


Burning Bridges

by kai_152, Oneddesire



Category: The Walking Dead (Comics), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - World War 4, Angst, Character Death, Daryl Dixon/Glenn Rhee slow build, Daryl learns to love, Doctor Glenn, Explicit Language, F/M, Future Fic, Glenn is fucking beautiful, Glenn is good with words, Gun Violence, Hate to Love, Hurt Glenn, Jealousy, Korean Characters, M/M, Murder Mystery, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Relationship, Prisoner of War, Racism, Racist Language, Rape/Non-con Elements, Reality TV, Slow Build, Soldier Daryl, Soldiers, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Violence, WW4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-06-01 10:19:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6514198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kai_152/pseuds/kai_152, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oneddesire/pseuds/Oneddesire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>World War IIII AU </p><p>It is 2074, World War IIII is slowly coming to an end, North Korea has fallen and America stands victor. Former soldier Daryl Dixon accept the offer to join the Five Knights, a team who will be filmed for people to watch and enjoy at home. Along with the knights, he fly off to a secret base in a small village of South Korea. Daryl is revengeful against the Korean enemies for their participance in the war, but when he set his eyes on Glenn Rhee, the Korean American doctor of the village, he begin to realize that not everything is as it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

**Chapter 1  
  
**

It was December 22nd year **2074** and Daryl Dixon had woken up to another Columbus cold day.  
  
The temperature had dropped noticeably in the past days, but the onset of rain and a northern wind had made it icy. With no break in the greyness above, the chance of a let up was slim to zero. 

Daryl kept steady hands on the wheel as he drove on the grey, pollution belched road towards Jack T. Rutledge State Prison. It wasn’t exactly the happiest place to spend even a second during the holidays, but Daryl wanted to. This was his last chance before going away for a while.

He stepped out of his old, red pickup truck on the parking lot of the prison on that Thursday afternoon, the cold was bitter and made his skin feel raw. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and buried his neck deeper down the collar of his scarf as he walked across the pavement towards the visitor’s entrance.    
  
“Your 25 minutes starts now.” Daryl was instructed by a prison guard after he’d gone through the rules of visitation and the uncomfortable frisking.   
  
He had done it a few times through the years, but it always felt far too eerie to get used to.  
  
He walked into the visitation room, passing visitors talking to other inmates. As he approached the cubicle that was addressed to him, the man on the other side of the plexiglass got into view, the man that was his brother; Merle Dixon. 

Merle had been in and out of prison for over fourteen years. Now, as a fifty-three-year-old man he still hadn’t managed to learn but had instead fallen deeper into the hole he’d dug for himself since childhood.  
  
The town did no longer believe that he was anything but a thug and when a woman accused him of sexual assault, he was convicted and prosecuted for it in a heartbeat with no evidence needed but the woman’s words.

He’d been given 15 years in prison without parole and the unfairness of the world seemed clearer to the brothers than ever before.

Daryl sat down on the dark blue, plastic chair opposite to a smirking Merle and reached for the phone hanging on the wall to his right. Merle mimicked the act and put it to his ear.  
  
 “Well well, baby brother. You really got time for a chat with ol’ Merle? You’ve been very busy lately it seems.” Merle snickered.

 “I am leavin’ in two days. I just thought I’d stop by and see ya.” Daryl said while plucking out his bangs from where they had stuck between his eyelashes.

 “Yeah, been hearing all about you on the news. Goin’ across the pond to shoot a movie are ya? Gonna be a big star n’all?” Merle asked, never letting off the constant grin off his face.   
  
 “It ain’t anythin’ like that. The offer promised double so I thought I might as well get you outta here while I’m at it.” Daryl sighed. He was not in the mood for his brother’s taunting even though he had expected it.  
  
 “So tell me about the offer then. What’s with all the publicity in the media? Hearin’ yall gonna be on some secret location and that you have a team, sounds more like an episode of Amazing Race than goin’ ta war if ya ask me.” Merle sounded patronizing.  
  
 “All I know is that we are going to get filmed for yall people to watch at home. This ain’t my idea bro. I am just doin’ it to get the money to bail your pity ass outta here.”  
  
 “So sweet of ya baby brother. But even I know that you ain’t a person for spotlight. Your face’ll be all over the place. Sure you can handle that?” Merle asked.  
  
 “I am doing it for the money. I don’t give two shits about anythin’ else.” Daryl replied with a snort.  
  
 “You ain’t a team player, never have been, never will be. Yet yall look like a bunch of pussy groupies on TV.” Merle sniggered and leaned back in his seat.

 “I am getting ya outta here. Just appreciate it and get off my back.” Daryl spat back, annoyed by his brother’s taunting. 

 “I will always appreciate what you do for me little brother. I get to come home, you’ll get a nice vacation. Just fine by me. As long as I get to watch ya proudly on the TV. We ain’t weak, cheap, butt wipers. Show’em how the Dixon’s do.”

 “I will.” Daryl promised.  


**_2067_ ** _was the year when it all started. North Korea acted against America with fire and hate, rocking the western nation with the rest of the world following like a chain reaction. Four North Korean nuclear bombs fell the night of_ **_March 14th_ ** _over US land, killing over_ **_3_ ** _million people. As the blood of the victims covered the streets like after a heavy shower, the night would later be called The Red Rainfall, the night that WW4 began._ _  
_

_Behind closed doors; North Korea had threatened the government of the south before the attack on America, forcing men of South Korea to fight against the west as soldiers against their will. South Korea was partly blamed for the crime committed and was because of that named equal enemies of the west._ _  
_

_South Korea became the all-man’s-land for battle between the enemies. Invaded by raging troops from mostly North Korea, America and Russia, the three countries most undesirable to come across. The South Koreans remaining at home were caught in the flood of hatred, enslaved, tortured and killed in the name of war; among them were women, children and elder._ _  
_

_By the year of_ **_2072_ ** _, America had dominated parts of East Asia and Russia and was slowly claiming the world, but still felt nowhere near revenge. So with their developed technology, The US military firm KNIGHT produced a way for their country to experience victory at its sweetest in the most modern form possible._ _  
_

_Reality TV._ _  
_

_Turning war into entertainment that the people at home could watch on their TV screens. KNIGHT decided to create a team of handpicked, favorable soldiers that were going to be representing the US in the war like heroes in movies. With a camera crew, five American soldiers were going to be documented and broadcasted for propaganda purposes._

- 

On the morning of December 24th when Daryl had put his dark grey camouflaged uniform on, stood in front of the mirror and gazed upon himself; He saw a fighter, a protector and a defender.  
  
That’s what he was, no matter how much propaganda he was going to portray. He was still a soldier and he was going to fight.  
  
Daryl had finished his 36 weeks of OSUT as a teenager and had been stationed at Fort Benning. He had served the military for only 5 years before he decided to take a step back and take over his uncle’s mechanic shop.  
  
He had decided to never take part in a war again... but changed his mind when it was laid out in front of him.

For his skills in the army, he had been asked to join the KNIGHT project, and Daryl, filled with rage and taste for revenge against the Koreans and in serious need of money, accepted without blinking.  
  
He climbed out of his truck by the airport at Fort Benning. The winter sky hadn’t changed from two days ago. Like a child had drawn on it with a pencil and then erased it in a way that smudged and spread the grey, as if Christmas eve was only a tale. He looked up for a moment, contemplating.  
  
The silence that lingered comforted him. He knew that it wouldn’t last for long so he took his time appreciating it. 

He took a deep breath before flinging his duffel bag over his shoulder and walked across the field towards Airbus 203, the plane that was going to escort him and his team to the other side of the world. To another world. To war.

A group of at least 20 soldiers stood by their great escort, all in green camouflaged uniforms and helmets but only four of them stood out to Daryl, four sharing his colors. His teammates.

 “There you are! We were starting to get worried you’d chickened out.” One of them called for him as he approached.  

The others laughed and Daryl couldn’t help but smile. They all then walked into the airplane, heading towards another world.  

  “May God have mercy for my enemies because I won't.”  Captain Shane Walsh snickered and the rest of the men shared his moment with laughter as they were seated in the plane, heading towards Asia.

  “To me, they’re all the same. Imma tally count every single yellow-faced son of a bitch I put down.” he kept smirking but the tone of hostility in his voice did not match –“Anyone up for a competition?” He looked around inside the military transport aircraft.  
  
At the other soldiers, his team.  
  
Daryl had figured Shane out from the moment he’d met him a month before their departure. His appearance was all you needed to get a hint about the person. 

He was a man whom acted ruthlessly and violently towards everything he disagreed with; a man talking with domineering fists and a quick temper. He was a liability to be around. Especially when he'd had a few drinks he’d lost all ability to reason.  
  
He'd lash out first and think later. When any other guy would have shrugged and walked away, he’d pull a flick knife. Daryl did not share those traits like they may have in the past, but they did share similar taste buds. Like the hate towards the east, the itching anger and the pride of fighting for the motherland. 

 “Sign me up. What do I win?” Private Tomas laughed from the other side of the craft, chin lifted high into the air cockily.

 “You get to kiss my ass.” Abraham scoffed, making the others laugh in sync.  
  
Sergeant Abraham Ford. A lot of man with a lot of muscle. Abraham could assemble his rifle in thirty seconds in the light or the dark. He was the man you prayed would be at your side when the fighting began, he would have your back and he would fight.  
  
But he was not a man to confide in. He didn't want to know of your heartache, loneliness or fear. He had his own under control. He had less hold of his patience and anger. Like Shane, Abraham acted with his fists but only in situations it required. 

Daryl did enjoy the light mood of the group. It almost didn’t feel like they were headed for war.

The camera crew wasn’t filming and it was clear to why. It was all written on the film director Andrea Harrison’s face. She and her crew were there to make the American team look good for the viewers.  
  
There was obviously nothing good about racist remarks, especially not by the men who were supposed to be the heroes.

 “Imagine the people at home watching us and cheering for us. When we return home, we’ll be treated like kings!” Jim easily shoved his elbow into Daryl’s arm and smiled in big excitement.     

Private Jim. A gawky young man with zero military training but a very odd interest in things that explodes. He had been arrested after robbing a liquor store in downtown Atlanta with a homemade grenade but instead of being prosecuted, he was like Daryl, asked to join the Five Knights team.  
  
Daryl had found Jim easy to talk to and he was always smiling even though there was that look in his eyes that told the story of a person Daryl knew all too well. Mislead and mistreated by family and society.  
  
A disappointment to many, accepted by few. Though he had a wife and a child on the way, and had therefore decided to take on the job to provide for the family he had built.  
  
Daryl and Jim got along well and had become close.

 “You care bout all that Jimbo?” Daryl asked. –“You? King? Hell, you might want to shower first.” He then laughed and the rest joined in.

 “Laugh all you like. When I get back home, I will be a new man. People will respect me and look up to me.” Jim put a fisted hand to his heart and proudly lifted his chin before he took a deep breath. -“And most importantly, I get to have lots and lots of sex.”

The entire aircraft burst into laughter again. Daryl turned to the only woman on the team sitting next to him. She hadn’t been laughing since she was far too focused on the book she was reading.

Private first class Michonne. She tended to work alone and quietly and kept much of her past secret but possessed a keen sense of intuition. When she and Daryl met she opened up to him enough for the two to trust each other. She was a right hand, someone who would get the job done quickly and safely for you.  
  
Being an expert on knives and her favorite weapon of choice being a katana, she claimed the nickname “The Samurai” by the viewers. 

 “Where do you see yourself after all of this is over?” Daryl asked out of courtesy, wanting her to join in with the others. 

 “Most likely back home with my family. We are not actually going to fight in the real war you know.” She said without looking up from her read.

Daryl knew. It all seemed like they were going to war, that they were going to fight the actual enemy. But it wasn’t like that, the war was basically over. They were doing it for publicity, for money, some for celebrity. That was all.  
  
As he looked around the aircraft, he noticed how he and Michonne probably were the only one seeing it that way. 

10 hours later and the blue ocean beneath, the sky and the white clouds around them turned into a dark reality as they were heading closer to earth. Daryl took a deep breath, knowing the time had finally come. The ground was neither white from snow, or green like earth should... but black like a nightmare.

He turned to Jim who was also looking out the small window, joy drained. The camera crew were setting up for filming.

 “We will point the camera from this side and as they have landed and they open at the back, we will film the soldiers as they walk out.” Andrea gave directives to the four men working for her.  

 “I am so excited!” Jim burst out as he shook the tension from his limbs. 

 “Don’t be such a girl Jimbo.” Shane called from the other side of the plane.

_"Prepare for landing."_

Daryl put the seatbelt on and watched the rest of the team do so. The landing went rougher than he’d expect and for a second he felt like he was going to die right there. He knew he was being paranoid, but reality was closer then he somehow wanted it to be.  
  
When the plane stilled and everyone unfastened their seat belts, put their backpacks on and turned towards the door, Daryl inhaled deeply. 

 “Action.” Andrea told the cameramen before the door opened and blasted them with light.  
  
In a practiced formation, the soldiers left the aircraft and their boots bounced from metal to grass in the same beat.

They marched out and headed forward into the massive forest. Without a single word, the group walked through the Korean woods for over two hours before the trees cleared and in front of them a village appeared, surrounded by a large fence with barbed wire.  
  
Soldiers were seen guarding the fence with dogs and guns. The set looked more realistic than he had imagined it to be. The group halted in front of three people standing in line by the entrance.

 “Welcome. I do hope your flight here was pleasant. I am General Dale Horvath. It is nice to meet you all.” Dale, a man who had grown into the role of a soldier with age, proudly wore the four stars and yet seemed like the most humble person you could cross.  
  
At first did Daryl think that the man was acting, that maybe even generals were needed on set. It had to look as realistic as possible for the viewers.  

 “My name is Deanna Monroe and I am the secretary of defense.” The lady to the right said and Daryl immediately tensed.  
  
This was a badass woman; he could tell just by looking at her.

Then he turned to the man in the middle. A middle aged man with curly, finger-combed hair. His appearance proved to Daryl who he was before the man even spoke. 

 “And I am First Sergeant Rick Grimes and you are all welcome… to the Mangyang-ri base, or as we call it. **Alexandria**.”  
  
Daryl couldn’t help but be amazed by the vision in front of him as he stepped through the gates of Alexandria. Straw houses stood aligned with wooden porches surrounding the structures. The old buildings with the hanoks mixed the generations that had been and was now. It really was an impressive set.  
  
The greenness of all that flourished around, the beautiful sound of wind chimes playing in the cold December wind and the walls of mountain surrounding the village like a protection against the unknown. It was all breathtaking to witness. It was no surprise Andrea’s team was filming it from as many angles as they could.  
  
The unit marched up the path towards what didn’t belong; American made quonset huts. The steel didn’t fit in with the environment. The circular shape of the roof shaded by the beautifully architecture of the hanoks.  
  
But those grey, crowded, metal tents were part of Daryl's country, part of his people, part of him.  
  
Daryl ogled at the sides, finding Korean villagers carefully watching them as they paraded up the pebbled trail. Daryl had heard about how they were going to use asians as extras, and now he understood in what way.  
  
Most of them were children or elder, all wearing black chokers with an individual number on each. Daryl had heard about the necklaces, how they were supposed to keep the enemy in check.  
  
He could see the fear in the villagers eyes, the loss for hope. It made Daryl feel uneasy, so he decided to keep his gaze forward and ignore what should be ignored. He was not there for them.  
  
A camera in his face interrupted his thoughts. Daryl quickly shoved it away and met cameraman Noah Riley’s surprised face. The boy was no older than 19 but had a passion for filmmaking and had joined Andrea’s crew for his skills.  
  
 “C’mon I need some footage of your reactions. It’ll be good for the people at home to see your humane sides as well.” He smiled.  
  
 “Never get that camera so close to me again. I’ll beat yur ass.” Daryl muttered and turned his focus back ahead.  
  
He had agreed to be a part of the Five Knight's team, meaning that he knew he eventually had to be filmed, but he never agreed on having his personal space stripped naked and flaunted. All he wanted was to be left alone and to be let to do his thing.  
  
The unit was shown into the first of four huts, where bunk beds stood arranged in a long row. They were given time to settle in before a tour of the rest of the camp. Daryl chose a top bunk over Abraham.  
  
The camera crew had been directed to the second hut where the staff was sleeping and Daryl was more than thankful knowing that the hut was a safe place from cameras and the spotlight.  
  
They were then shown around camp, the last two huts explained as the mess and the administrative facilities. First Sergeant Grimes was the one to lead the tour and with every word coming out of the man’s mouth, Daryl trusted them. He showed them to the hanoks and explained the situation of the villagers.  
  
"We leave them alone as much as possible, but they are taught to adjust to the situation. They are background extras, more to make this look as realistic as possible but don’t forget that they are also prisoners of war. The necklaces they wear is for your safety."  
  
Daryl couldn’t help but notice the wounds and scars on the villagers he did manage to sneak a closer glance at. They looked underfed and weak.    
  
Good. Show them the outcome of the American rage, he thought.  
  
 “Dwight!” Grimes called for a man standing by one of the fields with a gun. The man walked up to them and saluted them.  
  
 “This is Captain Dwight of unit 4. He is in charge of the villagers.”  
  
Captain Dwight, tall, blonde and muscled grinned at the group as he pushed some of his bangs out of his face.  
  
 “Nice to meet y’all. I am Captain Dwight Alton. I am to make sure that the villagers do what they are supposed to do and make sure they don’t bother any of you or the production. Feel free to come to me if you have any questions.”  
  
 “Now everyone follow me.” Grimes smiled at Dwight before continuing down the path, the rest of the soldiers in tow.    
  
 “This is the infirmary.” First Sergeant Grimes called out as they stopped in front of one of the bigger hanoks he knocked on. –“This is where you or a comrade will be taken care of if something were to go wrong out there. Let’s hope it will never come to that.”  
  
Grimes turned as an older man with white hair and beard opened the door.  
  
 “This is Doctor Hershel Greene, one of a kind, the best there is.” He introduced and the man named Hershel gave a nod at the group of soldiers.  
  
 “You are all very welcome to Alexandria. If there is anything you need...” The man smiled underneath his long, bushy beard. –“It will be a pleasure to work with you all.”  
  
 “Doctor Rhee is not in at the moment but I am sure you will see him around… Let's continue.” Grimes called and Daryl left his admiring focus on Doctor Greene to follow the Sergeant.  
  
After another hour of introduction, it was time for supper in the mess. Daryl was tired after being among so many people. Being the introvert he was, he now wanted nothing more than to be left alone and hide underneath the duvet of his bunk. The others around him conversed like no tomorrow and even though he listened, he wanted no part.  
  
 “On Wednesday we’ll fly over to Seoul, where we’ll shoot some scenes. I can’t wait to slay some slit-eyed bastards.” Shane laughed before pouring the rest of his beer down his throat.  
  
 “Well, while it seems as if you think this is some kind of game, other soldiers have thrown their lives away for our country. How about you tone down with the brutally childish act and focus on what this really is about?” Andrea hissed from the end of the table.  
  
Shane sneered at her and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his uniform.  
  
 “I fully well know what my comrades have sacrificed for our country. Don’t talk about us as if we are some fragile Hollywood stars that are only here to look good. I’ve been in the U.S military for over 20 years.”  
  
Daryl couldn’t agree more. He was aware of the KNIGHT project and all that it was about, but he would never be belittled because of it. He was a soldier. A soldier who could fight.  
  
 “At least have the decency to show some respect.” Andrea snapped back and got up from her seat. Noah and the other camera man Nicholas followed her.  
  
 “Women…” Shane snorted and dug in on the tomato soup.  
  
-  
  
The next morning, Daryl was awoken by Jim.  
  
 “C’mon let’s take a walk or something. I am bored.” Jim pleaded already in uniform, pulling at Daryl’s shirt.  
  
 “Fuck off. How old are ya?” Daryl muttered and tried to ignore the other man and going back to sleep.  
  
 “C’mon. Let’s check the place out. We are shooting in two hours and I am too excited to just sit and wait.”  
  
Daryl sighed, gave up and got up.  
  
 “Fine. But not for long.” He said and jumped down from his bunk to get dressed.  
  
After breakfast they exited the barracks and began up the hill to what looked like a small graveyard surrounded by peach trees. They went down the path towards the fields where most villagers were already busy working.  
  
Jim made funny remarks on how they dressed. Daryl felt mostly disgusted by the looks of them. Dirty and probably contagious.  
  
 “They seriously look like animals, man. Dirty and rabid animals.” Jim snickered as he pulled his sleeves up to wash his hands under a hose. –“I feel dirty just by looking at them.”  
  
 “C’mon let’s go back. We should get ready for the shoot.” Daryl suggested, feeling as dirty as Jim described. He was tired of looking at the mistakes God had created.  
  
They walked between two straw houses that led back to the path, when out of nowhere a little Korean girl appeared running between them with something in her hands.  
  
Daryl saw it. Jim didn’t. He took a step forward and the girl bumped into him and fell. Daryl then realized what she had been carrying; a large pot of hot water.  
  
Jim hissed as it splashed onto his arm while the girl started screaming. Daryl looked down on her to find that the rest of the water had fallen on her. An older villager came out of one of the houses and started yelling at them both in Korean. Daryl pulled Jim back and scurried away.  
  
“Shit, that Noye* tried to fucking burn me to death.” Jim spat, angry and in pain.  
  
The point on his arm the water had gotten on was already red and Daryl for a second thought about what had happened to the girl. He quickly brushed it off and said;  
  
 “Let’s take you to Doctor Greene and get that checked.”  
  
They both walked through the door of the infirmary not long after. The room was of stereotypical Asian architecture. The ceiling was miles above them, the floor of a wooden style and walls of great art by the forefathers but the hospital beds lined up against both walls were definitely of western design.

At the back of the room were two doors and a big shelf where you could find hospital utilities. It had not been a hospital before but maybe once a home of a richer family.  
  
 “Hello?” Daryl yelled out. –“Doctor Greene?” The infirmary was empty.  
  
 “Yes?” A voice came from the back, a voice Daryl didn’t recognize.  
  
As they both turned, they found an Asian man approaching them. He seemed to be maybe ten years younger than Daryl, dressed in normal clothing but wearing a choker like the rest of the villagers.  
  
 “Who are you?” Jim was first to ask, clearly not happy with another Noye in his presence. Daryl wasn’t any happier.  
  
 “I am Doctor Glenn Rhee. I thought you called for me?” Daryl had never heard a voice so silvery and yet so modulated. He sounded young and to his surprise, he sounded very American.  
  
 “We called for Doctor Greene. We want him, is he here?” Jim snapped.  
  
Doctor Rhee shook his head that led to his jet black hair swaying.  
  
 “He’s out. If you’d like to wait for him…”  
  
 “My comrade got burned. We have no time to wait. We are shooting in less than half an hour. Help him.” Daryl interrupted without courtesy, staring down the foreign man in front of him.  
  
Glenn let a few quiet seconds pass before smiling carefully and gestured towards the bed closest to them on the right.  
  
“Please have a seat.” He said.  
  
Daryl walked over to the wall next to the bed Jim sat down on and leaned his back against it. Glenn walked up and held out his hand to Jim who looked up in confusion.  
  
 “Let me have a look.” He said calmly and Jim did as he was told, which surprised Daryl, who expected a retort or an insult from the other man. **  
  
** Glenn examined the burn in a matter of seconds before he smiled and let go of Jim’s arm.  
  
 “Just a second.” Glenn went to collect medical items from different drawers on the other side of the room.  
  
Jim turned to Daryl and raised an eyebrow. Daryl was not much entertained either, rather wanting to be back in his bed at the barracks. Being so close to vermin made him more frustrated with every second passing.  
  
Glenn returned with a small, damp towel, moisturizer, a glass of water and a package of ibuprofen. He also brought a stool that he placed in front of Jim and sat down on. He put everything he held down on the bedside table except the towel which he held out for Jim.  
  
 “Here. Hold this against the burn for 10-20 seconds.” Glenn instructed.  
  
Jim snatched the towel from Glenn and placed it over the small burn. Glenn reached for the moisturizer on the table and poured some on a bit of cotton.  
  
 “So how did you get burned?” He asked and turned to Jim.  
  
 “One of your kind did this on purpose. It tried to kill me.” Jim growled and threw the towel to the side and held out his arm for Glenn as he reached for it again. -”I am going to report it.”  
  
 “I am sure it must have been an accident.” Glenn answered simply without taking his eyes off of the skin he treated with the moisturized cotton. –“It’s just a faint burn, this won’t kill you.”  
  
 “What?” Jim asked, clearly angered by the Doctor’s use of words.  
  
Glenn looked up at Jim.  
 “I mean that you don’t have to fear for your life. This burn is of first degree and happens to everyone ones in awhile. It is most common when you’ve dealt with hot water.”  
  
After those words, things happened fast. Daryl was off the wall in a second and the hard slap was delivered to the Doctor’s cheek before the next.  
  
 “Know your fucking place, Noye scum.” Daryl spat in a mixture of anger and disgust.  
  
The silence that lingered in the room was haunting but Daryl was far too furious to care. Glenn had turned his face away from their view, hand on his cheek.  
  
When he slowly turned back he looked up on Daryl with shocked, frightened eyes. Daryl felt no desire to guilt over his actions, instead he snorted and leaned back against the wall with arms crossed, glaring down on the Korean man.  
  
Glenn turned back to Jim and continued to aid him in silence while Jim turned to Daryl and rewarded him with a pleased grin. Glenn finished massaging the moisturizer and carefully reached for the glass and the ibuprofen. He handed them to Jim before getting up from the stool.  
  
Jim swallowed a pill and rose from the bed. He walked up to Glenn whose head was bowed and whispered;  
  
 “I am definitely going to report this.” He threatened before walking towards the door.  
  
Daryl looked at Glenn for a second before he followed Jim.  
  
 “That fucking Noye. How dare he!? Where is Dwight? I am reporting this right now!” Jim furiously spat as they made their way back to the huts. –“Fucking good that you gave him what he deserved.”  
  
Daryl had enjoyed it, slapping the Asian doctor, and still, something felt off. Something inside of him had been triggered and it scared him. He might hate those creatures but what if he would eventually go to far as to actually kill one?.  
  
Jim headed up the path looking for Dwight, who they found sitting on the stairs to one of the huts, sunbathing with the rifle lying next to him.  
  
 “Captain, I was burnt by a Noye girl and I am here to report it.”  
  
Dwight, who had smiled at them as they had approached, turned his lips quickly into a frown. He stood up and grabbed his gun.  
 “Show me who it was.” He gritted out, and followed Jim.  
  
Daryl felt that it all was unnecessary, contemplating on staying behind, wanting nothing to do with it. But when Jim called for him, he could do nothing else but follow along.  
  
Jim found the girl in the arms of the woman who had yelled at them, both sitting on a step to one of the houses.  
  
 “You little shit.” Dwight spat and pulled at the girl to stand.  
  
The girl was burnt from head to toe, wounds covering her body. Crying, she tried standing but her legs failed her every time while the woman struggled against Dwight to let the girl go.  
  
Dwight then pulled out a remote Daryl had never seen, and pressed a button which first made the woman spasm and fall to the ground in pain. Then he pressed again and the same thing happened to the girl. He was electrocuting them, Daryl realized.  
  
 “Useless piece of trash! Apologize immediately.” He spat and pressed the button again when she did not do what she was told.  
  
 “Stop it!” Someone yelled out behind Daryl and Jim. It was Doctor Rhee who had just exited the infirmary.  
  
He ran up to Dwight and crouched down by the girl.  
  
 "She's dying! Stop!" Glenn yelled.  
  
Daryl could read Dwight’s face like it was his own. He was angry and embarrassed, and yet he did as Glenn told him and pressed another button, making both the girl and the woman to stop shaking.  
  
 “The little bitch hurt one of the actors. She knows as well as you what the punishment is for that.” Dwight hissed, venomous hatred soaking his words.  
  
He flexed every muscle in his body as he could over the other man as he took a step closer to them.    
  
 “She is injured! She can barely stand. If you can’t see, she has second-degree burns all over her body. You wouldn’t use such violence against a child for such reason? Would you Captain?” Glenn replied, his tone steady and calm while he looked the girl over.  
  
 “What in the world happened?” Doctor Greene came down the trail and kneeled on the other side of the child.  
  
His realization came before anyone managed an explanation and he picked her up in his arms.  
  
 “I’ll get her to the infirmary!” He called as he jogged passed Daryl and Jim towards the hut with the girl in an embrace.  
  
Doctor Rhee got to his feet and was about to follow Doctor Greene when Dwight grabbed his arm and pulled him back.  
  
 “I would use such violence against anyone who disobeys me.” He said, answering the man’s question. –“And you Doctor, sure like to be disobedient.”  
  
 “You almost killed a six year old girl who should have been in the infirmary instead of the field. Instead you decide to punish her for an accident and order her to apologize in a language she can’t understand? Go ahead and give me her punishment if you need to quench your desire for violence so badly.”  
  
Dwight clenched his jaw in scolding anger, ”My pleasure” Dwight snickered and pulled Doctor Rhee roughly up the path.  
  
Daryl and Jim followed the Captain up the trail where he forced Glenn on the ground in front of the huts.  
  
 “The pole! Bring the fucking pole!” He yelled at two soldiers that approached  
  
The look in the Korean man’s eyes told Daryl that he knew what was going to happen, that he feared what was to come but refused to give Dwight the satisfaction of showing it.  
  
 “Fifteen lashes should suffice. Wouldn’t you say so Doctor?” Dwight asked as the thick, wooden pole was sunk into a hole in the ground.  
  
Two soldiers came up and grabbed Doctor Rhee who did his best fighting them. Dwight pressed a button on his remote and Glenn began to spasm like the girl had. They pulled him to the pole and secured his hands around it, his front to the wood before Dwight pressed the button again to stop the pain he was putting the Doctor in.  
  
Soldiers had heard the commotion and were now gathering around the scene but no one seemed to do anything about it; like this was a normal routine. Daryl noticed the team as they arrived, all confused. He found Noah in the back, recording with his camera.  
  
Was this happening?  
  
 “Now let’s show the newcomers what happens when a Noye disobey me. You should have learned by now Doctor Rhee. You really seem to like to push my buttons.” Dwight said as he walked up behind the Asian man who pulled at the rope that secured his wrists around the pole.  
  
His breathing was rapid but not a single sound came out of his mouth. Dwight pulled out a knife from his belt and in one motion cut the Doctor’s shirt in half, revealing the skin on his back - And the scars of past punishments.  
  
Memories came flooding back into Daryl’s memory but the vision in front of him had never been in _front_ of him before. All the anger he felt, the thirst for revenge. It all came to him at ones.  
  
When Dwight handed him the whip, that’s when it all crashed down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes at the end.  
> Warning! Read the tags!

**Chapter 2  
**

Silence clung to him like a poisonous cloud that at any moment could choke the life out of him. It seeped into his blood and paralyzed his mind. He couldn’t even hear the cheering from his comrades, like he had gone deaf.    
  
The whip was cold and unfamiliar in his hands but still known at the same time. What scared him the most was the power he felt in that moment. Like he was a God.   
  
_ “He deserves it. Give him what he deserves.” _   
  
Daryl wasn’t sure if it was Dwight egging him on or if it was a voice in his own head. He approached the shivering man kneeling on the ground, his scarred back exposed, vulnerable. Daryl stopped behind him, gripped the whip tighter and like a switch, it got dark.   
  
Memories flooded his vision, seeing his child self over his father’s lap crying, whip marks over his back like cuts from a knife. He could still feel the pain as they kept coming, how they got deeper. He could hear his father yelling, calling him worthless, a waste and how he deserved it.   
  
 “Stop! Stop it!” At first he thought it had been someone trying to save him from that moment, like it was a part of a memory he had forgotten, was it his mother?   
  
No, it was a voice pulling him back to reality and as the kitchen of his family home disappeared, reality reappeared and in front of him was a blood-drenched Doctor Rhee, breathing heavily.   
  
It had been Doctor Greene that had called and who were now sitting by the Korean’s side, holding him in his arms. Daryl looked up to find the villagers who hadn’t been there before, now being held back by soldiers, some electrocuted on the ground in pain.    
  
Children and women were crying. He turned to his comrades, some were staring back at him with fear, doubt and pity, some were smiling and nodding approvingly.   
  
He had blacked out. He couldn’t remember a thing.   
  
 “Untie him dammit!” Doctor Greene yelled as he threw his own jacket over Doctor Rhee’s welted back.   
  
A soldier ran up and cut the rope tying the Doctor to the wood and as he was no longer supported by the pole, his body sunk further to the ground. Doctor Greene picked him up, threw the younger man’s arm around his shoulder and slowly started walking towards the infirmary.    
  
Noah ran up and grabbed the injured man's other arm and threw it over his shoulder before turning to look at Daryl, shame in his eyes.    
  
Daryl still held the whip in his hands but it felt different now. The power he had felt were gone, the shame Noah left him feeling now coated his entire being.   
  
Dwight walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.   
  
 “Good job. He fucking deserved it that piece of Noye trash.” He smirked.    
  
Daryl only nodded, he couldn’t utter a word, what was he supposed to say? – “Got to put the animals where they belong. Beneath us.” Dwight patted him on the back before walking away with his men.   
  
The rest of the crowd were slowly scattering and known faces became clearer. Michonne looked at him with the same shame Noah had, Andrea and her team in utter shock, Shane trying to hide his satisfaction.    
  
It was all too much and he wished more than ever that he’d rather be back in his bad memories and the kitchen, he deserved it.   
  
-   
  
The smell of blood and the weight on his shoulder held Noah to reality. He felt sick to his stomach to what he just had seen. How a man he had admired had brutally beaten another innocent human being.    
  
He felt bad for not having the courage to stop it but also felt angry and disgusted that no one else did anything. As he half carried, half dragged the Asian man down the path and inside the infirmary, thousand thoughts went through his mind.   
  
As he laid the man down on his side on one of the beds, he felt completely numb. Glenn shivered like he was cold but at the same time he was sweating. Doctor Greene pulled the jacket off of him and as Noah sat face to bleeding back, he wanted to throw up.   
  
 “Go get two acetaminophen and a glass of water please. I need to put pressure to the wounds.” The Doctor asked as he grabbed a couple of towels from one of the shelves.    
  
Noah got up and ran over to the medication cabinet and rummaged through the shelves to find the right label.   
  
He could hear Doctor Rhee whimper as Doctor Greene pressed a towel on his back. Noah got more frantic in his search, wanting to end the other man’s suffering fast.    
  
When he found it, he ripped the packaging open and quickly poured a glass of water. He ran back to the men and sat down on a chair on the other side of the bed, this time facing Glenn who was busy holding back his whimpering.    
  
While Noah helped him sit up to take the pills and drink the water, Doctor Greene was busy cleaning the wounds. As Doctor Rhee lay down again he looked up at Noah and it broke the younger man’s heart when Glenn forced a smile to cover the pain.   
  
 “Thank you.” The Doctor said between heavy breaths.    
  
Noah had never felt so bad. Glenn should not thank him for helping him. He didn’t deserve it. Still, Noah responded with a faint smile, nodding.    
  
 “What is your name?” Doctor Rhee asked before winching at the burning of the alcohol Doctor Greene used to wash his back.   
  
 “Noah…” Noah replied, head hanging low.   
  
 “Thank you for helping me Noah. I’m G-Glenn.” Glenn smiled again before closing his eyes and letting the pain swallow him up into unconsciousness.   
  
There was silence lingering for a while between Noah and Doctor Greene before Noah spoke.   
  
 “How foul…” Noah exhaled and Doctor Greene sighed in agreement. Noah bit his lip and looked at Glenn’s face.   
  
 “I don’t understand why Daryl would do this… I didn’t think that he was…” Noah couldn’t find the words.

 

When he had been introduced to the Five Knights, Daryl had been the one Noah had found the most interesting and different, the one to look up to and admire.   
  
 “You’d be surprised how many men like Daryl there are in this world. Men who don’t know the difference from wrong and right and who think that power is the answer to prove the difference.” Doctor Greene kept cleaning the dirt from the wounds on Glenn’s back before he picked up a big band aid pad and carefully placed it over some of the welts.  
  
 “Power is a parasite that feeds off hate and shame, growing in size and strength with silence.” Doctor Greene said as he finished up and wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his blood covered hand. He then looked up at Noah.  
  
 “Noah… I saw you record the ordeal. You need be careful not to let the wrong people find out. They’d think you were unsure of which side you are on. That makes you dangerous in their eyes.” He said.  
  
Noah looked at Doctor Greene for a moment, taking his words to heart. He then got up and after one last look at Glenn he said;  
  
 “I know which side I am on… the good side.” He said before walking out the door.  
  
-  
  
 “Wait? You are going to let him off with a warning?” Andrea argued, standing inside of Sergeant Grimes office.   
  
She had dragged Daryl to the former school where the high ranked officers shared space. Daryl stood leaning against the wall beside the door, pissed off at the situation. He did not need to be lectured, he already knew what he had done was wrong.   
  
Yet, Andrea had forced Daryl to go and talk to Grimes, furious of his actions and demanding punishment.  
  
 “Look, I am not saying what Private Dixon did is acceptable. But according to Dwight did Doctor Rhee cause a ruckus, and it is within our legal right to make order in the most effective way possible.”   
  
 “So, because this innocent man said or did something Dwight did not like, he had to be beaten bloody? This is a set of a reality show for God’s sake.”   
  
 “No, this is not just a set. It is a camp for war prisoners that is also being used as a set. Don’t mistake it. I am not here getting paid to be on camera. I am here because we are still at war. Doctor Rhee did not deserve the punishment he received and I have spoken to Dwight about the matter. Private Dixon…” Sergeant Grimes turned tired eyes on the other man. -”I hope you understand what I am saying here.”   
  
Daryl nodded slowly, turning his gaze to the floor.   
  
 “So, are we done here?” Grimes turned back to Andrea, who snorted, anger clear as she turned on her heel and gave Daryl a look of disgust before exiting the office.   
  
 “Doctor Rhee may be a prisoner here, but he is important since he’s one of the two Doctors at this camp. He is a resource we can’t afford to lose. Do you understand?”   
  
 “I do.” Daryl muttered before leaving, understanding that the conversation was over.   
  
Daryl let what had happen leave his conscious and days later he had gotten applauds from comrades and honored a toast for his action. He had started to think that maybe it hadn’t been as bad as he had thought. The Noye had deserved it, that’s what the others told him.  
  
One morning a week later, he sat on the steps to the huts with Tomas, Shane, Abraham, Jim and two other men from the team. They were talking about the first episode that had aired and the response to it, but also their lives at home, families and past jobs. Every now and again someone would comment on a villager walking by or shout racist remarks at them.  
  
 “The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.” Shane spat as he played with the gun in his hand.  
  
 “Fucking right.” Tomas replied and the rest agreed in mumbles.  
  
 “And no fucking women here either. Dwight told me that most of them killed themselves. Only old people and fucking children left. I thought there were going to be some pussy.” Shane spat on the ground in front of him. – “Noye or not, it’s still pussy.”  
  
 “C’mon Shane. Settle down.” Abraham rolled his eyes and put his cigar back between his lips.  
  
 “What? How am I supposed to survive however long we’re supposed to be here? I fucked at least three women a week back home. Now what?”  
  
 “That I don’t believe for a second.” Daryl smirked Shane’s way.  
  
 “Fuck you.” Shane retorted and punched Daryl’s arm playfully.  
  
Daryl and the other men laughed but he stopped abruptly as he noticed Doctor Rhee on the field below with a wooden bucket, holding it out for the children. Shane had noticed Daryl’s sudden reaction and turned to see what he was looking at.  
  
 “Oh look who's awake!” He exclaimed, catching the other men's attention, to Daryl’s dismay.  
  
Glenn continued up the path and kept holding out the bucket for the villagers and as he got closer, Daryl noticed that the bucket contained peaches he was handing out.  
  
Glenn talked to the villagers, laughed and smiled at them, patting the children’s heads and shaking the elder’s hands like he hadn’t been beaten bloody a few days ago. Yet he still walked as if it had.   
  
 “Hey! Noye!” Shane yelled out and Daryl’s heart froze. He didn’t want the man near him, didn’t want anything to do with him. Glenn looked up at Shane’s call but didn’t move from his spot.  
  
 “You’re not going to give us peaches? Isn't that racist?” He smirked and turned to the others who snickered with him. Glenn took a deep breath and slowly walked up the path to where the soldiers sat.  
  
Shane ushered Glenn closer with his finger and the Korean man did as he was told. He walked up to Shane and held out the bucket of peaches, chin up, hard eyes.  
  
 “You expect me to stick my hand down there?" Shane asked, tone taunting.  
  
A moment of silence lingered before Glenn reached down and picked up a peach he held out for Shane.  
  
 “And you expect me to eat something a Noye has touched? Who do you think I am?” He asked and now with a more dangerous tone.  
  
Glenn didn’t seem affected by it and just kept glaring. Shane got up and grabbed the bucket from the Doctor and before anyone could blink, he turned it upside down and all peaches fell to the dirty ground. Glenn blinked down at the fruit and Daryl could see how he clenched his jaw to stop himself from saying something. Shane noticed it too.  
  
 “Ah, you want to say something? C’mon. Give me a reason to be the next in line to whip your yellow ass.” Shane kept taunting and stepped onto a peach, squashing it.  
  
Glenn kept looking down, hands into fists at his sides before he knelt down and began picking up the peaches and putting them back into the bucket Shane had dropped to the ground. Shane shook his head and turned to walk away.  
  
 “Fucking scum.” He said and left with Tomas and the other two men.  
  
Daryl sighed and looked down on Glenn who seemed to have collected himself as he continued to refill the bucket with dirty peaches.   
  
Daryl scratched the back of his head and got up, picked up a peach and held it out for Glenn who flinched at the action. He then slowly looked up at Daryl and held out the bucket. Daryl dropped the peach into it and turned to leave too.  
  
Jim followed him.  
  
-  
  
Glenn sat by the stream on his knees, sleeves pulled up and the bucket of peaches next to him when Noah came down the hill.  
  
 “Hey!” Noah smiled as he walked up. –“What are you doing?” His smile faded when he noticed the dirty fruit. -“Did soldiers do that?” He frowned.  
  
 “It doesn’t matter.” Glenn responded and grabbed another peach and washed it off in the water.  
  
 “It does. I can talk to Sergeant Grimes, I am sure he’d do something about it.” Noah sat down next to Glenn in the grass.  
  
 “It will only make things worse. Believe me.” Glenn turned to look at Noah and smiled. Noah sighed and reached for a peach and started helping out.  
  
 “Is your back better?” Noah eventually asked.  
  
 “Yes. Very. Thank you for visiting me and keeping me company these passed days. I really appreciated it.”  
  
 “Of course. That’s the least I could do.” They washed the fruit in silence for a while before Noah spoke again.  
  
 “I’m sorry for what Daryl did to you.” Glenn turned back to face Noah.  
  
 “That’s the dimwit’s name? Don’t worry we can still eat the peaches. I just have to clean them up a little.”  
  
 “No, Daryl was the one who…”  
  
 “Oh…" Glenn lowered his head and let a moment of silence linger before he cleared his throat. -"Why are you sorry? You’re not responsible for his actions. You don’t have to be sorry Noah.”  
  
 “I just wish that they all could see what a kind person you are.” Noah sighed.  
  
 “I don’t think it has anything to do with personality. Thank you though, you are very kind too.” Glenn smiled at Noah.  
  
 “Are you afraid of them?” Noah asked.  
  
 “Yes. But not for my own sake. I can take it. I am afraid they will hurt the villagers.”  
  
 “I saw how they all were trying to help you the other day…”  
  
 “Yes. That is what I am afraid of. That something I say will cause trouble for them. That time it did. Some got hurt because of me.” Noah shook his head.  
  
 “You can’t blame yourself for that. You tried to help the little girl. What were you supposed to do?”  
  
Glenn didn’t answer the question so Noah decided to let it go. They kept washing the rest of the peaches in silence, but it was a nice silence, a peaceful one.   
  
-  
  
Daryl put his uniform on, strapped his helmet tightly around his chin and checked his guns like the rest of the team. Andrea and her crew were going through their gear, making sure the cameras and microphones were working.   
  
Daryl had a camera strapped to his helmet that the team could move around to either film from Daryl's perspective or film him to get all angles of the shots.  
  
Daryl didn’t really like it, all the technology. It made him feel cheaper than he was. When he were in the real war a few years back, he had fought the enemy with everything he had. Now, he was an actor with a camera on his head.   
  
 “Ready to kill some slit-eyed fuckers?” Shane asked as they were walking from their huts on their way out of Alexandria.  
  
 “Shane, I have already told you that you are not going to fight anyone. We are going to the outskirts of Seoul to do some action shots.” Andrea yelled from the front of the line.  
  
 “Yeah yeah… whatever.” He muttered and winked at Daryl.  
  
The team was not going to fight the enemy for real, only shoot some empty rounds in the deserted area of Seoul. They were then going to cut in some actual fighting shots the real army had taken and edit them together.   
  
Before they walked out the gates of Alexandria, Daryl caught Glenn’s gaze as he stood by the crops with other villagers. They looked at each other for a moment before Glenn turned away and Daryl did the same before his team walked out and disappeared into the woods.

-

_“한국어This way!” Glenn helped a couple of people through the halls of the hospital, holding his arm around an older woman’s waist to support her._ _  
__  
__Glass splinters scattered across the white tiled floor, the smell of smoke and dead bodies filled their nostrils, screams echoing through the walls like the building was haunted. It was, but not by ghosts._ _  
__  
__“한국어We have to get to the basement, there’s a bunker.”_ _  
__  
__The airstrikes had surprised the western area of Seoul, South Korea one morning in April. Glenn headed for the stairwell by the elevators, the only one of two ways down to safety._ _  
__  
__Besides the old woman, there was a couple with a baby, a middle-aged man and a mother with her two children keeping close behind him as they made their way through the escape door to the flight of stairs. They had to hurry before the planes returned._ _  
__  
__As they made it halfway down, the door they had escaped through a moment ago were busted open and the sound of men yelling could be heard from below._ _  
__  
__“한국어Hurry!” Glenn whispered to his followers, giving the middle-aged man responsibility to get the older woman down the stairs while he made sure they all got to the basement safely._ _  
_ _  
__“This way!” Someone shouted in English above._ _  
__  
__Glenn rushed behind his former patients and down the last flight of stairs and out the door to the basement. He was as shocked to find enemy soldiers greeting them, guns pointed at them._ _  
__  
__“Get down! Get down on the ground now!”_ _  
__  
__They did as they were told, Glenn as well, defeated. The baby was screaming, the children crying, the men yelling._ _  
__  
__Then, a shot was fired. Glenn looked up and to his horror, the mother of two had been shot in the stomach for not staying on the ground._ _  
__  
__“Anybody else move will die!”_ _  
__  
__More crying, more screaming and yelling. Glenn looked at the woman, still alive, writhing in pain with her children by her side. He began crawling towards her, he had to do something. He got to her quickly and took of his white robe, bundled it up and put pressure on the wound._ _  
__  
__The chaos silenced in an instant and suddenly replaced by heavy steps echoing on the concrete walls. Glenn focused on the dying woman, but as the sound of steps stopping and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire appeared in front of his face, he looked up._ _  
__  
__A man so frightening and intimidating had his brown eyes locked on him, and they radiated warmth. Yet the rest of him was cold, like stone. He was not dressed like the rest of the soldiers, more like a member of a biker gang._ _  
__  
__“You speak English, Doctor?” The man’s gravel voice boomed. Glenn felt the hands of one of the terrified children grab onto his arm as a lifeline._ _  
__  
__Glenn nodded slowly, glaring up at the enemy who turned his lips in a smile at his somewhat response._ _  
__  
__“Tell your patients that they are safe, and that we won’t hurt them as long as they do what we tell them.”_ _  
__  
__Glenn did a double take, pondered the words and tasted them. He then turned to his people and translated what the man had told him. Some of his patients looked at him and nodded in agreement, some just kept silent._ _  
__  
__Glenn turned back to look at the man with the bat who still showed his teeth in a grin the Doctor had trouble believing._ _  
__  
__“Very nice. Let’s get along. Now, that woman is going to die. How about I help out a little? End the suffering?”_ _  
__  
__“I can save her. Let me save her.” Glenn asked in the fine English he knew and it was clear that it surprised the man standing above him._ _  
__  
__“Shit, Sorry, there’s no time. You see, we are evacuating the area. I suggest you move away from her before I do something I will regret.” He warned._ _  
__  
__“You kill her, these two children will become orphans. I only need a tourniquet and she’ll be able to evacuate as well.”_ _  
__  
__“You’ve got some nerve Doctor, talking back to me. Not many of your kind has done so and lived to tell about it. Maybe I should kill her children too to spare them from a fate without a mother? Maybe I should kill you?”_ _  
__  
__Glenn frowned, but stood his ground. He was not the person to give up so easily, especially when there was a life involved. The two men shared eye contact for what felt like an eternity._ _  
__  
__Then the white man grinned again and turned to two of his men…who shot the two children dead in a second. The grip one of them had on Glenn loosened as the girl fell to the floor._ _  
__  
__There were crying and screaming again, most were from the dying woman who had just witnessed her children die in front of her._ _  
__  
__Glenn did not know what to do. Blood ran down his cheek, blood from a child. The man with the bat moved closer and kneeled down on the other side of the mother’s body, opposite to Glenn._ _  
__  
__“Let’s try that again Doctor. Move. Away. From. Her.” He said and brushed some hair away from Glenn’s face tenderly._ _  
__  
__Glenn kept his eyes down on the woman. She was crying, from so much pain. Glenn carefully eased the pressure on the wound, and moved back but only after grabbing hold of her hand._ _  
__  
__“Good boy.” The man whispered and got up again. He swung the bat behind his head, ready to strike it. -“What is your name?” He asked, curiosity coating his words._ _  
__  
__“G-Glenn…” Glenn muttered, eyes still locked on the woman’s as if trying to give her some kind of last moment._ _  
__  
__And her last moment came. The bat swung and struck her in the face. There were crying again, but not from the woman. No, she was dead. One swing was all it took, but the man pretended otherwise._ _  
__  
__He kept striking her, over and over again, her face turning to a red, meaty mash. Glenn didn’t avert his eyes, he had too much pride not to. After at least 10 strikes, the man stopped and kneeled again. He pointed and positioned the bat by Glenn’s cheek, forcing the Doctor to look at him._ _  
__  
__“You interest me, Glenn. You are not like anyone I have ever met. I love that.” His eyes were as warm as before and Glenn had trouble trusting anything ever again. –“I’m Negan, we’ll get along well you and I.” He smiled again…_  
  
And then Glenn woke up, sweating and crying.  
  
 “Glenn! Quickly, there’s a helicopter coming back with two wounded soldiers. They are almost here.” Hershel yelled through the door.   
  
Glenn got up, rubbed his face from the salt and put his shirt on.  
  
Disoriented by the memory, he stumbled across his room towards the door and opened it, finding Hershel waiting for him.  
  
 “Are you alright?” He asked, worried. Glenn realized that his nightmare had left an imprint on his face.  
  
 “Yeah, Yes I’m fine. So, what happened?” Glenn passed his colleague and rushed to the sink to wash his hands.  
  
 “A bomb went off, it was not supposed to. They were in a safe zone but something went wrong. Two men were wounded.”  
  
 “Do we know how bad it is?”  
  
 “One of them were maybe ten feet away, one were right by the bomb. It’s uncertain but it’s a possibility that one of them set off the bomb.”  
  
Glenn let Hershel help him put on a robe before dressing his hands in gloves. The door to the infirmary opened and soldiers carrying two stretchers. One of the soldiers alarmed them of the victims wounds and as they put the two on the beds, Glenn felt his heart skip.  
  
It was two men whose faces he knew. One who he had helped with a burn only a few days ago were now covered in them, and the other… Private Dixon, the man who had slapped and whipped him – now needing his help in order to survive.  
  
-  
  
Daryl woke up slowly, his entire body in a pain he had never experienced before. It made him want to scream, but he was too tired to even open his mouth.   
  
He opened his eyes to find himself in the infirmary back in Alexandria, with his teammates and the camera team surrounding his bed, talking with each other.  
  
He tried moving, but only caused himself more pain and made a noise to express it. The people around him reacted and looked at him with relieved eyes.  
  
 “Man! You’re awake!” Shane cheered and gave him a rough pat on the shoulder.  
  
 “We were worried buddy.” Tomas smiled.  
  
Abraham, Michonne, Shane and Tomas, Andrea looked at him while the camera men filmed him. It all relieved the pain a little bit knowing he was still alive, still around. But then he realized what had happened.  
  
 “J-Jim, B-Bomb.”  
  
The faces looking upon him turned to each other, as if not knowing how to answer it and craving assistance, then their looks fell on something to Daryl’s left. He turned his head as fast as he could manage to find Jim beside him on a bed, connected to tubes.  
  
 “J-Jim.” Daryl forced out, as if trying to wake his friend.  
  
 “He’s going to be alright.” The voice of Doctor Greene pulled him to the other side of the room as the man approached. –“He lost a lot of blood and a leg, but he’s stable right now. He’s resting.”  
  
 “Thank you so much Doctor Greene. You saved their lives.” Shane got up to greet the man.  
  
 “I did not, Doctor Rhee is the skilled one of us. I was only assisting.”  
  
The answer led to silence in the room until Michonne spoke up.  
  
 “We are very thankful either way.”  
  
Hershel smiled and looked down.  
  
 “It’s our job. Now, I suggest that you let Mr. Dixon rest as well. He’s been through a lot.”  
  
The group nodded in agreement and all gave Daryl their regards before leaving the infirmary. There was then a nice peaceful moment and it gave Daryl time to remember.   
  
Remember how Jim had brought the bomb and played with it for the others entertainment. It was part of his character, the audience liked him being the guy who blow shit up. But… not himself.  
  
Jim knew all about bombs, he wouldn’t make that mistake. How did it happen? Daryl looked back on his friend, and felt sorry for him. It had been an accident and it had caused him to lose a limb.  
  
 “Alright Mr. Dixon. You got away with a few wounds and fractured ribs, some burns but you’ll be alright.” Doctor Greene told him as he came up beside the bed. –“You were both very lucky.”  
  
The door to the infirmary opened and Doctor Rhee walked inside. Daryl locked eyes with the man for a moment, and he knew he should thank him, but he didn’t want to.  
  
 “Are you alright Private Dixon?” Glenn asked carefully with no emotion on his face. It was clear that the Doctor was cautious with him, as if afraid of what he’d do or say.  
  
Daryl turned his head back to Jim.  
  
 “You couldn’t save his leg?”  
  
Glenn walked further inside and Daryl could see the exchange of looks he shared with Doctor Greene. Glenn smiled at the older man, as if saying he’d handle it. With that, Hershel left the room to his office at the other end of the infirmary  
  
 “Sadly it was too damaged, there was nothing I could do.” Glenn sighed.  
  
 “Or was it that you felt like you didn’t want to?”  
  
Glenn looked up at Daryl with a frown. It was clear he had been offended.  
  
 -“If it had been one of your kind, you would have done more right?”  
  
 “I did all I could to save your lives because it is my job to save people, no matter who they are.”  
  
 “Much life he has left with only one leg.” Daryl sneered, sitting up in the bed, not caring about the pain in his abdomen. Glenn just stood gaping at him, disbelief in his eyes.  
  
 “He’s alive, while a lot of people aren’t. People who deserve to be alive are dead, because of people like you.”  
  
Glenn turned quickly and walked off. Daryl red in rage lay back down and looked back on Jim. Yes, he was alive… Thank God. Then he thought again on Glenn’s words, and it burned within him. Not only because of anger, but because of guilt, realization. It felt strange, new… It felt bad.  
  
He closed his eyes and hoped he could travel back home in a dream, to when he and his brother played in the treehouse or stole bikes by the mall.   
  
He was alive, and he had been saved by the last person he wanted to be saved by. Reality was a nightmare, therefor he wanted to disappear into a dream, where things were different.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Explanations  
> Noye - Means slave in Korean (suggested by a reader)
> 
> Administrative facilities - Military organizations of all types must support a wide range of administrative functions including personnel management, accounting, and procurement. Some facilities are quite similar to civilian office buildings while others are converted from other military uses and can be quite idiosyncratic.
> 
> Mess - “Mess” is the military term for any facility serving food to large groups. Some mess halls in remote locations can be rudimentary, but others in established locations can be similar to modern cafeterias.
> 
> \----------
> 
> Please comment, it makes me want to write more!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Daryl awoke to soft sheets and the morning light trickled in through the blinds. Shedding off the remaining glimpses of a dream, his eyes still shut as he soaked in the warmth of the covers before letting them see the sun rays.  
  
The infirmary was quiet, Jim and the Korean girl still asleep in their beds, no doctor in sight. Daryl slowly let his mind clear from the sleepiness, and tried to sit up slowly.  
  
It had been a week earlier that the bomb incident had happened and his body had almost healed completely. The camera crew had been inside the infirmary a lot after that, interviewing him and Jim who too had gotten much better. Well, much better a man could be in his state.   
  
The two had shared hours talking and watching the new episode of their show together. It had shown actual footage of the bomb going off by the gopros on their helmets, making them relive it again and Jim having to answer for his actions when the viewers started blaming him.  
  
It had been an accident, that’s what Jim had told him and that is what Daryl believed.  
  
Daryl had also apparently gotten his first paycheck sent to his account, and the sum could make a grown man cry. He had only appeared in the two aired episodes ever so slightly, without having to say much or do much – the way he preferred. But the viewers seemed to like him anyway and Andrea had told him that his rating had gone up from the first episode.  
  
Though Daryl did not care for the attention, he had never cared for it. It had therefore been troubling every time Doctor Rhee brought a tray of food and water and sometimes even books for him, which he never read.   
  
Daryl should be thankful, he knew that. But somehow, he only felt pitied, weak… He did not need help, especially not from a Noye who did not know his place.  
  
But Doctor Rhee had also assisted Jim, and Jim had changed his behavior towards the Noye since he woke up. They had shared conversations and Glenn had helped Jim with everything he needed and eventually had made him try walking on crutches.   
  
Daryl had decided not to ask Jim about it, only kept on trying to be supportive of his comrade. It did bug him though, too much for his liking.  
  
 “Good morning buddy.” Jim’s dry voice came from beside him.  
  
Daryl turned to face his friend who looked as defeated as a man could. With one of his legs gone, Jim’s hope of remaining with the Knights were slim to zero.   
  
The man knew that more than anyone, and it was clear in his eyes. There was no such happiness in them like there used to be.  
  
 “Mornin’… How’rya holdin up?” Daryl asked.  
  
 “Better. Always better.”  
  
One of the two doors in the back of the room opened and Doctor Rhee walked out with the famous tray. After taking care of the girl who had woken up as well, he approached the two men lying on their beds.  
  
 “Good morning.” He smiled faintly and put the tray on the bedside table between them.  
  
Jim smiled back while Daryl turned to face the window. It smelled of pajeon, the Korean pancakes Glenn had made them a few times before. Daryl was hungry, but he could wait, he did not want the Doctor to see him enjoy it.  
  
 “How are you both doing?” Glenn asked while pouring the milk into two cups of tea.  
  
 “Good, we are both good.” Jim replied, knowing Daryl wouldn’t answer for himself.  
  
 “I am glad to hear it. I wish to take some tests before and after you eat, is that alright with you both? Some of the tests require an empty stomach.”  
  
Jim nodded for the both of them, but Glenn still turned to Daryl for consent.   
  
 “Whatever.” He finally replied, wanting the Doctor to get off his back. Glenn walked back to the end of the room and got the syringes prepared.  
  
Daryl had never been the needle guy, maybe because he barley visited the Doctors in the past. It was not the first time Glenn had taken tests on him, but he still got nervous every time. Maybe it was because it was a Korean man doing it that made him not trust it.    
  
Glenn came back with a chair and a table on wheels where the syringes and bandages were displayed. He sat down between Jim and Daryl’s beds and reached out a hand for Daryl.  
  
 “Your arm please.”  
  
His voice was guarded, face matching. It was not surprising considering their relationship. Daryl had slapped, whipped and called the other man names. Still, Glenn did not seem afraid of him. More so, he seemed cautious.  
  
Daryl unfolded his arm and let it fall into Glenn’s warm hand, making him shudder. The Asian man wrapped a tourniquet around the soldier’s arm and secured it before feeling around on Daryl’s skin for veins.   
  
The touch was tender, light and Daryl could not remember any other time in his life where he had felt it. All men he’d ever met had always been rough, but this… this was closer to a woman’s touch.  
  
Daryl looked up at Glenn’s face, and it was clearly not the face of a woman. Even though the Doctor had defined cheekbones and jawline, had clear skin and full, pink lips; the face was still of a man.   
  
Daryl’s thoughts were interrupted as Shane stepped inside the infirmary.  
  
 “Get out of here chink, I need to speak to my men.” Shane spat as a greeting even Daryl did considered avoidable, before Doctor Rhee even had turned to face him. Glenn frowned and turned back to Daryl’s arm.  
  
 “I am running some tests. Feel free to talk or come back later.”  
  
There it was again, defiance. Glenn was clearly not just unafraid of Daryl, but of all of them. When Daryl thought about it, he remembered Glenn’s encounter with Dwight – and yet again, there had been no fear.  
  
 “You fuckin’…” Shane muttered, eyes murderous, yet he turned away from Glenn, walked up to the end of the beds and gave all his attention to Jim.  
  
 “So, as you may know Jimbo, you are being sent home.” To Shane’s words, Jim nodded slowly, looking down. –“KNIGHT will have you replaced, they are working on it as we speak.”  
  
 “I did not see my paycheck so I am assuming they won’t pay me either…” Jim spoke out, defeat in his voice.  
  
 “Since you are not above rate 5, they won’t. Though they have a proposition, but they want to speak privately to you about it.” It was clear that Shane did not care about Jim, his words were cold, no feelings attached.  
  
 “Right, I will.”  
  
A faint stung made Daryl flinch. Glenn had found a vein and had pushed the needle in. Shane turned to Daryl, and then to Glenn.  
  
 “So, how do you feel about having a man lose his job?” His voice taunting. Glenn kept his eyes on his and pretended not to listen, which made Shane’s anger increase.  
  
 “Hey, slant eye… I’m talking to you.”  
  
 “I saved his life.” Glenn answered immediately and turned to look at the soldier again, fearless eyes.  
  
 “Or did you make it worse? You had good, clean intentions when those two came in on stretchers? Saved their lives huh?” Daryl recognized the words as his own only he had said them a week prior but now, they did not sound right.  
  
They were old and made less sense. Glenn put a band aid on Daryl’s arm and turned around to repeat the procedure on Jim.  
  
 “I did what I could with what I had.” He mumbled.  
  
 “Tell yourself that Noye… But I know that you are just like the rest of your people. Filthy, weak enemy scum.”  
  
Glenn dropped Jim’s arm and got up. He had been triggered and it surprised Daryl. It was clear how he clenched his fists and face. Shane seemed to share the surprised feeling with Daryl at first, but he then grinned like a cheshire cat.   
  
He wanted an excuse to get to beat a Noye up, and it just presented itself. Jim tried to calm them both but his voice did not reach them. Daryl did not care enough to get involved but kept watching the ordeal.  
  
 “I want you out of my infirmary.”  
  
Shane scoffed and took a few, intimidating steps closer to Glenn.  
  
 “Fucking make me, you yellow piece of shit.”  
  
 “That’s enough.” Came a voice from the back of the room. Doctor Greene.  
  
Glenn sat down on his chair again and turned back to take care of Jim. Shane backed off too.  
  
 “I would appreciate if you would give these men some rest.” Hershel walked up to the soldier, who shrugged, gave one last warning look at Glenn before exiting the infirmary.  
  
 “I’m sorry about Shane…” Jim apologized to Glenn as he stuck him with the needle. The Doctor only smiled back, whatever anger he had shown a second ago - gone.  
  
-  
  
Days passed to a new year. The team had visited and camera crew had done more interviews, as well as Sergeant Grimes, Horvath and Monroe had come to give their condolences to both Jim and him.   
  
Daryl had thousands of fan mail sent to him, while Jim barely got any. He would however help Daryl read through them. Jim had spoken to KNIGHT but wouldn’t tell Daryl what it had been about, so he had let it go.  
  
Daryl left the infirmary eventually, all healed and back on track. He had refused to thank Doctor Rhee, even though he knew he should’ve had. But how could he? Thanking the man he beat up, the man he resented.  
  
No, that was not Daryl Dixon.  
  
The team and soldiers all welcomed him back and it felt good. He had felt like he belonged even more now than ever. He got to go back outside the gates, filmed more footage and interviews, making his rank go even further up.   
  
Everything was as it should be.  
  
Until one evening, when Daryl and the rest of the team were playing poker, there was a knock at the door of the hut. Abraham opened it to reveal Doctor Greene with a crushed look on his face.  
  
 “Please follow me.”  
  
They all did, down to the infirmary. As they stepped inside, they found Sergeant Grimes, Horvath, Monroe and Doctor Rhee by Jim’s bed, all looking down on him. Daryl walked up first, confused and slightly worried.   
  
What was going on?  
  
As he made the long and hard walk up to the bed, he found Jim sleeping, and then he understood that he wasn’t. Blood was trailing down his forehead, coating the pillow in dark red.  
  
 “Oh God…”  
  
It was Andrea who had spoken. She and her crew had followed them, and were now standing by the entrance with cameras up and recording.  
  
 _Pricks._  
  
 “We both heard the gunshot.” Hershel walked up to the bed and put a hand on Glenn’s shoulder. –“We rushed out to try and save him, but he shot himself in the head. There’s not much more we could do.”  
  
Glenn standing beside Daryl unfolded a piece of paper that he pulled out of his pocket and carefully slid it into Daryl’s hand without anyone seeing. Daryl received it and put it in his pocket, trouble grasping the situation.   
  
Nothing existed anymore, only thoughts of why and how.  
  
He decided to leave. He was not good with feelings, especially the sad ones. He should cry right? That’s what you do when you lose someone. Yet, there was nothing coming out.  
  
He exited the infirmary, walked up the trail towards the huts but instead of walking inside, he passed them and sat down in the grass behind one of them, alone in the dark, alone with his thoughts.  
  
He was curious to what the paper contained, and why Glenn gave it to him in the way he did.  
  
He took a deep breath, pulled the paper from his pocket and clenched it in his hand. He decided to unseal the letter and read it.   
  
_Dear Daryl._ _  
_ _I am sorry for telling you this way, but KNIGHT had me promise not to tell anyone... But I feel I have to. I never told you this, but I have a wife and a newborn son at home in Atlanta._

_ We are very poor and my wife work double shifts just to make sure we can provide for our son. I could not get a job, how much I tried, and therefor did I rob the store. I thought of this as a last resort, joining the Knights and send the money back to my family. _ _   
_   
_ Now I hope that you can forgive me for this, but I did set off the bomb on purpose. It was no accident, no mistake. I did it because the producers told me to. I was promised a lot of money for it, but I never got the paycheck. I never meant to hurt you, and I did not know that I would at that extent. With only one leg I would be forced to leave and go back home, where I am no good for my family. KNIGHTS therefor promised me that they would pay me double if I did this, so that is why I killed myself. My family get to live and my son get to grow up.  _   
  
_ Now, you can't let people know what KNIGHT told me. You can't tell anyone about this. I trust you. You were the only friend I ever had. I want to thank you so much for everything. Promise me that you will be careful around these people. Watch your back, and don't accept extra money from KNIGHT. You will only end up in trouble. This is all just for the views to them. You are nothing to them but an object.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Thank Glenn for me. You can trust him. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Jim _ _   
_   
Daryl wanted there to be more, but the rest of the paper was blank, like his mind. Jim had killed himself for the money, money the producers had promised him.    
  
They had told him to kill himself for the viewers reaction, for another scene in an episode. Jim's life had meant nothing to them.    
  
Daryl wanted to punch something, kill if he could. This was now a secret he had to carry alone. The ugly truth only he knew about... or maybe, one other person knew.   
  
_ Thank Glenn for me. You can trust him. _   
  
-   
  
The episode aired the day after, with Jim’s story published for the whole world to see. It had been suicide they said, it was because he could no longer serve his country they said.    
  
The viewers reacted by sending more letters to the dead soldier than Daryl had gotten. Knowing the truth, but not being able to do anything about it was torture. Seeing the headlines in the media, seeing all the kind words about the fallen hero.   
  
People are shitty.   
  
Daryl decided not to watch the episode with the rest of the team and crew like they usually did. He did not want to be angered again by the reminder.    
  
He had also burnt the letter to make sure no one could read it and find out. KNIGHT had told them that the new member was on the way and that Andrea and her crew were to film the reactions of the reveal.   
  
So easy to replace a person in this world, Daryl thought. Yesterday, their attention were on Jim. Now, all people were talking about was the new member. They all gathered by the gates of Alexandria on the day of the reveal.    
  
Cameras were ready, the team not. But the new member still made appearance. Out of the woods walked the new member, and Daryl had known that he wasn’t ready, but as the person came into view – Daryl realized he’d never be ready enough for what was to come.   
  
**Merle.** His brother was his new team member.

 

-

 

The worst flaw a person can have is that of self-deception. Merle was like that. He acted on impulse and then created a reason for his actions after the fact. If he was feeling good he did good things, if he was feeling negative in any way he did bad things.   
  
He felt like his good deeds meant he was a good person and his bad deeds were justified. In truth he never thought before he acted or spoke, he never stopped to ask himself if his response was the right one, or merely the first knee-jerk reaction that sprung to mind. Whatever he said was almost never true, or at least it was only "true" for him.   
  
Daryl did not think that the two shared those traits, at least not in the same amount. Growing up together, Daryl had always been intimidated by his brother, and not because he was jealous or looked up to him, but because he was actually afraid of him.    
  
And yet, he never loved the other man any less. Together they had faced many things, and they had always made it out one way or the other, because they had each other.   
  
But seeing him walk up the trail towards Alexandria as a free man, did not excite him one bit. Instead, his worry increased to the third bar. Merle always meant trouble, and Daryl had wanted to do this without it.   
  
As Merle came up to the gate, Daryl noticed something different about him. His right hand and up passed the elbow had been replaced by a cybernetic prosthetic arm made of hydraulic machinery.    
  
It was twice as big as his usual limb, metal fingers like sausages. Daryl noticed that half of the cameras had zoomed in on his brother, while the other half stared him down, recording his reaction to his brother.   
  
Daryl could see how much Merle liked the attention, it was all there in his eyes. After Merle was let in through the gates, he immediately walked up to his brother and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around him. His embrace was warm, like always but also very out of place.   
  
 “Little brother’s all speechless at the sight of me huh?” Merle half whispered into his ear, and like turning the keys in the ignition, Daryl awoke from a tumble of thoughts.   
  
 “Merle, you’re here.”   
  
 “See this?” Merle held up his prosthetic arm and like a Swiss army knife, his fingers were exchanged with a knife. –“Look what they gave me. It’s like a fuckin’ toolbox” The knife switched to a clamp. –“And I choose what to use with ma mind. Your big brother is now half human half robot. Birds like that shit.”   
  
Everyone around them seemed as bewildered as Daryl. It was impressive, yet Daryl had trouble understanding why his brother had that thing on his arm.   
  
 “It’s quite something brother. What happened to your arm?”   
  
 “Nothin’ happened. They asked me if I wanned it and I told’m yes. I am part of you pussy lottie's now. I need somethin’ to step up ma game.”   
  
 “Welcome to Alexandria, Private Dixon.” Sergeant Grimes who had been standing by the sidelines took a step forward to greet the newcomer.   
  
Merle turned his attention away from his little brother for a second to take his surroundings in. He did so with a sneaky grin on his face, as if he could not wait to cause trouble.   
  
He walked up to Sergeant Grimes, switched his clamp hand back to fingers and held it out for the other man to shake.   
  
 “A pleasure, Sergeant.”   
  
Daryl clenched his fists at his sides, waiting for Merle to say something that would not only shock him.   
  
 “The trip must have been long. After resting maybe you would like a tour around the base?”   
  
 “No worries. Ma brother will show me around, that’s how the Dixon’s do it. Ain’t that right Daryl?” Merle turned to his brother, but stopped to look into one of the cameras and smile, loving the attention.   
  
Daryl nodded quickly Sergeant Grimes way and then turned his gaze down, wanting nothing more than to sink through the earth. Merle turned to look at Michonne who wore the only unimpressed look in the crowd.   
  
 “Hello there honey, saw you on TV. You fight like a real woman. I’m Merle.” He walked up to her, but all she did was sigh loudly and turned on her heels to walk back up to the huts.   
  
 “She wants me.” Merle snickered, but as he faced the villagers, among them Glenn, his face turned into a frown.   
  
 “Surprised Sergeant Grimes aren’t keepin’ the chinks in chains, the way they deserve.” He spat, approaching the Koreans.    
  
Glenn stepped up to the front to shield the villagers and caught Merle’s attention.   
  
 “Well, well. This one’s got guts.” Merle’s robot arm turned into a knife again, which he held out to point at the Doctor. –“You don’t mind me relieving you of one do ya Sergeant?”   
  
 “He is the village Doctor, Glenn Rhee. He was the one who saved your brother’s life.” Dale Horvath spoke up.    
  
Glenn and Merle kept glaring at each other, though Merle kept smirking like it was the most entertaining thing he had witnessed.   
  
 “Saved ma brother did he?” Merle asked and took a step closer to Glenn. –“Then I guess I should thank ya huh? How about doin’ that by not cutting ya up?”   
  
Glenn just kept glaring, eyes dangerous. Daryl did not know how to feel. It was his brother, but at the same time, Merle was an asshole. It still wasn’t a pleasant view seeing a Noye looking down on his brother.   
  
 “You don’t scare easy do ya?” Merle asked and put the knife underneath Glenn’s chin. “I like that.”   
  
 “Merle…” Daryl spoke up, finally. There were still cameras recording it. He did not want the whole of America thinking bad about him and his brother.   
  
 “Don’t worry brother. I’m just playin’.”   
  
Glenn turned his eyes on Daryl for a moment, but slid his eyes back to Merle, guarding. Merle put his knife away, gave Glenn one last sneer and spun around to face Daryl.   
  
 “Let’s catch up brother. Just you and me.”   
  
Daryl nodded and let Merle curl his human arm around his shoulders as they walked up the path towards the huts. Daryl gave one last look Glenn’s way, he did not know why until he remembered Jim’s last words again.   
  
_ Trust him. _   
  
-   
  
How could a place be so full and empty at the same time?   
  
All around were the tombstones with their faded etching, a roll-call for the people who cannot answer. For when their bodies became still and cold they became a cadaver, not a person.   
  
Their soul, their living being had moved on. Glenn stood within the watery light of the early morning, living, breathing, his life stretching ahead.    
  
The graveyard on the hilltop, surrounded by peach trees was full; full of stone, moss and the decaying remnants of bone and flesh. But it was empty. There was nobody there but him.   
  
Glenn walked up to the memorial with a neatly rolled up paper in his hand. He had secured a red ribbon around it, made it look like an important letter to someone. But this letter was to no one, no one alive.   
  
The world was as silent as if it ended in the night. The sun had peeked up in the horizon, the mountains like silhouettes against a crimson sky and the air smelled of the ocean. There was something about the dawn that made each new day such a gift, easing it in gently.   
  
Glenn placed the oration in the grass in front of the marble plaque engraved in Korean, surrounded by chrysanthemum, before kneeling down in front of it. He rolled up the sleeves of his red shirt, reached forward and began plucking away the weeds around the flowers.   
  
Chirps from the treetops gently pushed the sluggishness from his mind. The worst part was, that with awakening came awareness. The shock collar straining around his throat, the healing welts on his back itching.   
  
His mind wandered to the villagers, and worry swallowed him. He sighed, trying to shake the feelings out of him. He had not come there to think about the living. He was there for Jim.   
Glenn sat back down on his knees, closed his eyes and pictured the fallen soldier.   
  
Then, the sound of boots clashing against the earth interrupted him and had him quickly turn to face the source; Daryl Dixon.   
  
At first, Glenn got terrified like he always felt whenever Daryl appeared before him. Whenever he saw the man he remembered the lashing, the pain.    
  
Daryl’s expression was serious but not unkind as he made eye-contact with the Korean man, but Glenn was not going to give in to it. He was not going to let his guard down.   
  
 “Good morning.” He tried, carefully, he words barely audible to the human ear.   
  
Daryl gave a nod, eyes on the green floor. He inhaled, as if collecting strength to speak.   
  
 “Did you read the letter?” The soldier then asked.   
  
Glenn got up on his feet and faced him.   
  
 “No.” He simply answered. It was the truth. But Glenn knew why Daryl asked, so he continued. –“I didn’t have to.”   
  
 “How did you know?” Daryl’s words almost did not reach him, his mumbling making it difficult to hear.    
  
But his voice was not of anger or spite, the kind Glenn was used to. It was cautious yet sincere.   
  
 “Well, Jim was not the first one to fall into a trap set by the people you work for. Another kind man by the name of Paul Rovia who worked here as the technician developer were forced into the woods with his hands tied behind him in the middle of the night, banished for defending me.”   
  
Daryl didn’t answer, so Glenn continued.   
  
 “Now, the soldiers talk about him as if he went mad, and how you could end up like him if you even go near me. They say he got what he deserved.” Glenn turned back to look at the memorial plaque. –“He was a kind man, like Jim.”   
  
 “Jim was kind.” Daryl stated and walked up beside Glenn. –“And he died for his country, for his family.”   
  
 “Did he? There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of hurting innocent people, or yourself for that matter.” Glenn was done talking.    
  
He walked up to the basket he had put below one of the trees, and began plucking the peaches them down.   
  
 “What do you know about it? You sacrificed anythin’?” Daryl was apparently not done with the conversation, the tone in his voice taunting.   
  
It itched in the Doctor’s fingers, he wanted to debate but at the same time he knew who would win in the end, and it was not the one with the best argument.   
  
 “I sacrificed everything…” He said, more to himself than anyone else.   
  
Daryl scoffed but then stood by the memorial in silence. Glenn snuck a glance behind his back to see the soldier rub his face with his sleeve.   
  
 “I am sorry for your loss.” Glenn then said, honestly.   
  
There was a moment of only chirping before Daryl nodded his head again, face away from view. He then walked back the way he came, down the hill.   
  
Glenn watched him leave and then continued picking peaches until the bucket was filled, carried it down to the stream to clean them before handing them out to the villagers. He did this at least twice a week, wanting to help as much as he could.   
  
He was greeted and thanked by every single one of them as he did his round. Many of the elders wanted to speak to him, asking him about the situation and the soldiers. Most of them did not know English, so Glenn was like the middle man; something he did not enjoy.   
  
He finished up and walked inside the infirmary, where there were only one patient left. Nari, the girl who had been burned a few weeks back but was almost completely healed.   
  
 “한국어Good morning, Nari.” Glenn smiled as he approached her, and the little six year old lit up at the sight of the Doctor.   
  
 “한국어Good morning!” She cheered and received one of the last peaches from the bucket. Glenn gave her a kiss on the forehead before walking to the back, where he emptied the bucket and placed the rest of the peaches in a bowl.   
  
Doctor Greene was asleep in his own room after his night shift, making Glenn in charge of the infirmary during the day. He cleaned the floor, surfaces and threw out the trash. Half the day ran passed him quickly, but he never minded it.   
  
Time passed four, he stood by the sink again, doing the dishes. He had made Nari fish cakes for dinner, and the two had eaten it together. It was quiet in the room, but that nice feeling was erupted when the front door slammed open and Dwight stomped inside with two of his men.   
  
Nari immediately started crying from the sight of the soldier, rushed off the bed and met Glenn halfway as he ran up to her to be at her aid.     
  
 “What’s going on?” He asked as he positioned himself in front of the girl.    
  
Dwight was different. His usual smug face was coated with rage, fires of fury and hatred were smoldering in the small narrowed eyes.   
  
 “Courtyard… now.” His words were short, demanding, almost threatening.   
  
The two men behind Dwight walked up to Glenn and the girl before they could even comprehend it. Glenn was grabbed around his bicep and pulled away from Nari, who thrashed and screamed in the other soldier’s hold. She did not understand.   
  
 “Let go of her!” Glenn struggled to break free as he tried reaching for Nari’s hand.   
  
He needed to calm her down or she would be punished. But the soldiers would not let them be close. They were forced out of the infirmary up the trail to the courtyard.    
  
When it came to view he found all of the villagers on their knees in the dirt, lined up in four rows. Children were crying, separated from their mothers, elders were praying. Surrounding them were soldiers, holding their guns out, warning.   
  
Glenn was forced down on the ground in the front row, Nari pulled to the back where the other children were. He looked around for Sergeant Grimes, for anyone in charge and could stop whatever was going on.   
  
He locked eyes with Daryl, standing to his right beside his obviously entertained brother. Daryl however, was not smiling. His eyes showed confusion, hesitation. Noah was behind them, holding a smaller camera in his hand, but there were no one else filming it.   
  
Everyone silenced when Dwight walked up to stand in front of the villagers, rage still in flames.   
  
 “We found the fence behind the shed snipped, meaning someone has tried to escape. One of you worthless pieces of shit has tried to escape…” Dwight’s voice rumbled like thunder.    
  
Glenn clenched his fist. No. This could not be.   
  
 “WHO!?” Dwight yelled, making most of the villagers flinch and cry in fear. They did not understand, but since Dwight already knew that it did not seem like he cared. He pulled out the all too familiar controller of the shock collars, making Glenn gasp.   
  
 “I’ll shock every single one of you FUCKING Noye’s until one confesses.” Dwight spat and pushed a button, making a woman behind Glenn fall to the ground and scream in pain. When no one spoke up, the next person was shocked, one on Glenn’s left.   
  
 “WHO DID IT?!” Dwight kept pushing various buttons, and the villagers fell like flies around Glenn. No soldier did anything to stop it, and when Glenn turned back to Daryl, all he met was a stone cold expression.   
  
_ Stop… Don’t… _   
  
Glenn could not take it anymore, but he barely got on his feet to make that statement. A soldier beside Dwight grabbed the Doctor by the hair and pushed him back down on his knees.   
  
 “Don’t fucking move.” He ordered.   
  
Glenn felt the panic begin like a cluster of spark plugs in his abdomen. Tension grew in his face and limbs, his mind replaying the screams of the people around him. His breathing became more rapid, more shallow.   
  
_ Stop… _   
  
 “한국어Stop this now!” An older man at the end of the line spoke up, and like a switch, there was silence. Glenn recognized him, the teacher of the village – Hwong Byun, 62 years old with a wife and four children.   
  
_ No… He doesn’t understand… _   
  
 “Wait!” Glenn yelled out, grabbing hold of the hand in his hair, bruising his scalp. –“No, they don’t understand!”   
  
Dwight was not listening to him, instead he walked up to the older man, pointed his gun… and without a second of thought, he pulled the trigger.   
  
The passage of the light slowed and the sounds became as if underwater. Aside from the beat of Glenn’s heart, no muscle would move. The bullet entered the man as if he was nothing, just meat, blood bones, blasting his skull as it burst crimson into the fading day.   
  
Hwong’s wife cried as if the ferocity of it might bring her husband back; as if by the sheer force of her grief it would be undone. Another woman tried to hold her back, to calm her, even as her own tears fell thick and fast but in her hysteria she was too strong, too wild.   
  
His children cried in choir too, among them everyone else.   
  
Glenn refused to look away, even as his lips trembled and his shoulders heaved with emotion, unwilling to back down. His dark lashes brimmed heavy with tears; his hands clenched into shaking fists, in a desperate battle against the grief.   
  
A lone tear traced down his cheek, and just like that, the floodgates opened. He wept, tears streaming from his brown eyes, loud, heaving sobs tearing from his throat, and still he did not look away. Hate burned in his heart so deep that it was ingrained in the tissue.   
  
 “That’s what you fucking get. Any of you lowlife’s do something like that again, you’re fucking dead!” Dwight spat, still angry.    
  
He showed no other emotion, as if he had not shot a person a few seconds ago.   
  
The soldiers were silent, some shocked, some satisfied. But Glenn did not look at them, he looked at the dead body of Hwong Byun. When the soldier holding him let go, Glenn immediately crawled through the dirt towards the body. Maybe he could save him, maybe he could…   
  
He appeared beside Hwong, his face no longer of recognition. He was dead, there was no use in even trying. The soldier’s began to scatter, Dwight leaving the scene with his men. Again, Glenn was sitting beside a person he could not save.    
  
He shook in anger, in grief and sadness. He wanted to run down the hill, jump Dwight and punch him until he was dead, but his body was again frozen in place.   
  
The villagers around him had dared to start moving, all gathering around Hwong, crying and screaming. There was a hand on Glenn’s shoulder, he did not have to know who. He just knew that the hand was not going to comfort him, make him feel better, feel less angry.   
  
Nothing could compensate for the unfairness of the world.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

 **Chapter 4**  


Daryl woke up drowned in sweat. A nightmare had troubled his night, but as he came to – he realized that the nightmare had been the reality of yesterday.    
  
The guilt he felt was burning within him and he could not understand why. He had known what he signed up for, going to war. But the unfairness of the treatment the villagers were suffering, it was clear and it bothered him that he seemed to be one of few seeing it.    
  
No one had intervened, Michonne, Abraham, Noah… No one. So why did the guilt remain so deep within him?   
  
 “Good mornin’ brother.” Merle’s gravel voice scratched at Daryl like a grater.   
  
His brother stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. It was then Daryl realized that it was daylight shimmering through the windows, and that he had slept longer than he usually would.   
  
 “Mornin’," he muttered and sat up in his bunk.   
  
 “So, we’re going on our first shootout tomorrow together. I just filmed my presentation scenes. Bet the world’s gonna love me.” Merle walked inside and flexed his arms to prove his point. –“We’re gonna be rich brother. You and me, finally showing the world what the Dixon’s are really made of.”   
  
 “Right.” Daryl rubbed his face and got on his feet. –“Hey, careful with that.” He dodged his brother’s robot arm to avoid being cut.   
  
 “Sorry man, still not used to it.”   
  
 “What even happened to your arm?”   
  
 “They asked me if I wanted an upgrade. It’s gonna make the viewers rate me higher.”   
  
 “Whatever.” Daryl thought about what Glenn had told him about the producers and how things were getting out of hand. He could see it more clearly now, how he might’ve been right.   
  
 “You are rated highest of the bunch brother, making you into an action figure, selling merch and shit. Fucking celebrity now, aren’t ya?”   
  
 “You know I don’t care about that.” Daryl put his uniform jacket on and walked out the door, his brother following him.   
  
 “No, you care about killing slant-eye’s, which is why people like watching ya. I knew your stone cold façade would be an asset to ya one day.”    
  
 “I am not killing Koreans. I am pretending to, for the money.” Daryl did not appreciate Merle’s praise. It made him sound more like a villain than a hero. As he walked out to the courtyard, he found Alexandria as good as empty, only a few soldiers walking around the premises.   
  
 “Where is everyone?”   
  
 “The villagers are burying the gook that was executed last night, up on the hill. Served him fuckin’ right trying to escape.” Merle snorted. –“Breakfast?” He asked and walked towards the cafeteria. Daryl sighed and followed.   
  
In the cafeteria, Andrea, Noah and Michonne sat together by a table, eating in silence. Daryl sat down beside Michonne with his plate, and noticed Merle sitting down next to Dwight not far away at another table.   
  
 “We were just talking about arranging another meeting with Sergeant Grimes.” Andrea noted, -“What happened yesterday, no one of us signed up for.”     
  
 “But Glenn told me he had already spoken to Sergeant Grimes many times. It seems like it didn't do anything.” Noah said and took another bite from his baguette.   
  
 “Then we take it to KNIGHT. We are here to film their stupid show, not watch people get killed right in front of us.” Andrea snapped.   
  
 “I think we all should just do our jobs.” Daryl mumbled, more to himself than anyone, and yet, six eyes turned to him.   
  
Silence erupted the table and eyes averted to the plates in front of them.   
  
 “I mean, there’s nothing we can do right? You want to risk getting fired? This is war, this  _ is _ what we signed up for.”   
  
 “I did not” Noah mumbled.    
  
 “How can you just pretend like it did not happen?” Michonne asked, anger filling her voice. -”How can you be so heartless?” She did not wait for a reply, but got up and left.   
  
Noah and Andrea followed, leaving Daryl to himself and his thoughts.    
  
Not long after, Dwight and Merle joined him.   
  
 “Dwight was just showing me this awesome thing!” Merle exclaimed and Dwight held out a device, that looked a lot like an E-map soldiers use to navigate themselves on the field.   
  
 “It’s a tracker. You see all the red spots? That’s every Noye within Alexandria. All up on the hill right now.”   
  
First, Daryl remembered Dwight’s rage from the day before, and how that rage had killed a man. Now, the rage was gone, like nothing had happened.    
  
Dwight was smiling and it bothered Daryl. He looked down on the map, seeing all the red dots up on the hill behind the barracks. Except, one was not red – but sky blue.   
  
 “I use this to keep an eye on them. You see in the top right corner, that’s the number of villagers: 43. This device lets me know if one tries to escape.”   
  
 “Does it alert you of any escape attempts?” Daryl asked.   
  
 “If anyone so much as touches the fence, I’ll know. I can track a Noye nine miles outside the Alexandria borders, that’s how great this thing is.” Dwight spoke with pride, as if he did have everything under control.   
  
 “Right…” Daryl mumbled, not very impressed.    
  
-   
  
Glenn watched how every villager left down the hill after the funeral. He volunteered to bury Hwong Byun, since his family was still in so much grief. He looked down on the man in the hole he had dug that morning, face covered with a white cloth, blood staining it still.   
  
The man had in a way sacrificed himself to save everyone else, but that heroism would never be known or idolized. The man would always be the man who tried to escape. The truth would never come out.   
  
The grief surged with every expelled breath, constantly reaching higher peaks, never sufficiently soothed by his long intakes of the frisk January air. Glenn felt empty, like a tiny bit of him had given up.    
  
Maybe he couldn’t save people, maybe he wasn’t strong enough.   
  
 “He shouldn't have tried to escape. He was a fool.” The familiar voice of Daryl pulled at Glenn’s hair roots and he wanted to cry as rage filled his belly.    
  
He felt his ears getting hot. He turned to glare at Daryl and spat out;   
  
 “How dare you?”   
  
 “How dare I speak the truth?”   
  
Glenn did not want to talk to Daryl, not even see him at that moment, but he could not help but vent.   
  
 “He didn’t do it! No one did it. Can’t you see that? One of you probably did it to get a reason to scare or hurt us. You see this as a game. It's fun for you.” Glenn exclaimed, his anger and hatred getting the better of him.    
  
But Daryl closed the distance between them, mirroring the anger.   
  
 “You are blaming me?”   
  
 “Yes! I am! I am blaming every single one of you for making this war about yourselves. I blame you for hurting Nari, I blame you for whipping me and for not stopping Dwight. I blame you for making me fear you and at the same time making me think I can trust you!”   
  
Somehow, the last part slipped out, and it made Glenn regret even uttering a word. Daryl’s expression made him certain of how great of a mistake he had just made. He spun around to leave, hiding his own shock and embarrassment.   
  
 “Glenn…What-" When Daryl set a hand on his shoulder, Glenn swung back around and mentally snapped.    
  
He brought his hand up to push the soldier off of him, but Daryl being exactly that, a soldier, made it a lost cause. Daryl grabbed Glenn’s wrist before it could do anything, the grip tight and forced.   
  
 “Let me go," Glenn hissed and tried pulling his hand back. –“I said, let me go!” He began shouting, distressed.    
  
Daryl only pulled Glenn closer to him and placed his other hand on the Doctor’s sway-back.   
  
 “Shhh!” Daryl’s raw voice brutal against his ear.    
  
Glenn kept struggling against him.   
  
 “I’m sorry!”   
  
Glenn stilled. He was stunned by the words, and this time – it wasn’t his. The two stood there for what seemed like an eternity, the burning heat radiating from Daryl’s touch, the rugged breathing against Glenn’s ear, the fear he felt and yet, something else he could not give a name.   
  
Then Daryl slowly let him go, turned on his heels and left down the hill without another word.   
  
-   
  
Two weeks passed.   
  
Episode after episode of the show aired. Daryl’s popularity kept increasing- and with that, so did his salary. Merle had passed Shane and Abraham on the charts, making him third after Daryl and Michonne. Headlines from all over the world told of the Deadly Dixons, and all of it triggered Merle to the point where he even made a toast for himself in the cafeteria.   
  
Daryl had gotten more fan-mail on the intraweb that he would read before bed, but one mail in particular caught his attention. It had been sent by the account name JESUS198227 every day for the past week, and it only consisted of three words: "DOCTOR KNOWS RHEEALITY." Over and over again. It made no sense until it finally clicked.   
  
_ Glenn. _   
  
Daryl, however, did everything in his power to stay away from Glenn, but no matter how far their distance, the Doctor remained within his mind.    
  
The embarrassing encounter on the hill two weeks prior frustrated Daryl immensely. But every time he remembered Glenn’s words of how he trusted him, it made him wonder what he meant.   
  
_ Trust him with what? Trust him how? _   
  
Daryl wished he could ask, but confronting the man with it after his own apology did not seem like a good idea. So he waited. For what he did not know, but he kept waiting for something to happen.   
  
 “Hey man.” Shane greeted him as he sat down next to the soldier on the steps outside the barracks.   
  
 “Hey.” Daryl gave his teammate a fist bump.   
  
 “What you lookin’ at?” He asked as he pulled out an apple from his pocket and took a bite.   
  
 “Nothin’.”   
  
 “So you are not lookin’ at the women down in the fields?"   
  
 “Why would I?”   
  
 “Man, the two of us haven’t had a good fuck since we got here and I can’t wait much longer.”   
  
 “Why don’t you try the village Doctor?” A soldier sitting further down the steps with two other soldiers turned and asked. –“I heard he’s good takin’ it.”   
  
Daryl did not know why, but every muscle in his body tensed at the mention of Glenn. It made him feel angry.   
  
 “The hell are you talkin’ about?” Shane asked.   
  
 “Yeah, apparently he used to have a “lover” here at the base, but whoever it was suddenly disappeared," one of them said. Daryl’s mind went straight to Paul Rovia, the man Glenn had mentioned a few weeks back.   
  
 “I heard he's a whore, giving himself to anyone. He has a hero complex when it comes to the villagers so if you threaten him…”   
  
 “I ain’t gay.” Shane muttered back.   
  
 “Barely have to be. The Doc might as well be a woman.” One laughed and the rest followed.   
  
Daryl swiftly got up and left. He had heard enough, and for some reason, the men had fueled the fire in him.    
  
_ Was it because they were talking about Glenn that way? Why would he care? _   
  
He rounded a corner and almost collided with the only person he did not want to see and one guess would be enough to know whom it was.   
  
 “I’m sorry.” Glenn apologized before looking up to meet Daryl’s blue eyes.   
  
When he did, he immediately averted his gaze back down and went to leave. Daryl grabbed his bicep to stop him.   
  
 “Wait…” Daryl realized what he had done before it was too late, so he let go of Glenn’s arm and turned away. –“You told me two weeks ago that you trust me. I want to know what you meant by that.” He whispered as he looked around to make sure no one was listening.   
  
Glenn blushed in response, which took Daryl by surprise.   
  
 “I want to trust you.” He finally answered.   
  
 “Why? Trust me with what?”   
  
 “I can’t tell you.” Glenn made a move to leave again but Daryl stopped him with another hand on bicep.   
  
 “You can trust me.”   
  
 “Prove it. Now let go of me. I have a job to do.”   
  
Daryl did as he was told and watched Glenn disappear around the corner. He had not given up just yet though, because even if Glenn might not trust him completely yet; for some reason, he trusted Glenn. And the message that had been sent to him, he knew only Glenn would understand.   
  
So when night fell and the barracks had all turned the lights off and fallen into slumber, Daryl tiptoed outside and down the trail towards the infirmary. He stepped inside a dark room, where two patients were sleeping and no sign of either Doctors.   
  
Daryl carefully approached Glenn’s room, the door to the right at the back of the infirmary. He quietly knocked on the door. He heard something from the inside and took it as an invite. He barely cracked open the door, peering inside before his eyes caught a disturbing sight.   
  
Dwight had Glenn bent over a desk, one hand over the Doctor’s mouth, the other fiddling with something in his own trousers.    
  
It was clear to what was going on, and his first reaction was anger and disgust. The second was a thought of running up and beating Dwight to a pulp and earning Glenn’s trust.   
  
But his inner voice traveled to his brain and down his throat, so he cleared it. Dwight jumped in surprise, took a step back from the desk and Glenn, and looked up in terror.    
  
When he found it being Daryl, he relaxed a little, combed his fingers through his hair and laughed uncomfortably.   
  
 “Hey man, what are you doing here?”   
  
Daryl threw a glance Glenn’s direction to find his trousers as well as underwear on the floor, pooled around his feet, the man still lying over the desk, shaking in silence.   
  
 “Need some painkillers and sleeping pills for the pain in my side.”   
  
 “I see. Right, I was just leaving anyway.” Dwight made his way towards the door but stopped in front of Daryl, leaned in and whispered,  “Not very nice to intervene but hey, let this be our little secret alright? You can even finish if you’d like.”   
  
He patted Daryl on the shoulder in a friendly matter before exiting the room.   
  
Silent drenched time for a while. Glenn slowly got up, obviously in pain while doing so. He reached down to pull his underwear and trousers back up, but stumbled and almost fell, when Daryl caught him.   
  
Glenn flinched, squeezed his eyes shut and began shaking again.   
  
 “Please…” he tried pulling himself away but he was weakened, it did very little.   
  
Still, Daryl realized his own mistake and let go, making sure Glenn would be able to stand.   
  
 “Do you need anything? Can I help you?”   
  
Glenn pulled his underwear up, then his trousers which he zipped up, dragging out the answer.   
  
 “Why would you?” He finally asked in return, refusing eye contact.   
  
 “You're in pain right?”   
  
 “I don't need your help” Glenn snapped.    
  
 “What can I do?”   
  
 “You can get out.”   
  
Every word stung, only fueling the fire that burned inside of Daryl. He wanted to help and it pained him that Glenn would not let him. As if he did not trust him. Every violated phrase was like gasoline adding to it, his fists clenched and his jaw rooted.   
  
 “Or should I maybe do what Dwight told me and finish you off?” The words slipped out before he thought it over, and once they were out in the open, he regretted them.    
  
He did not even mean it, he would never. Yet, as he played the sentence in his head again, it sounded like he did.   
  
Glenn did not react how Daryl thought he would though. When Glenn turned at last to face him, there were traces of tears in his eyes. They were narrowed, rigid, cold and hard. In that moment, Daryl knew just how many lines he actually had crossed.   
  
When Glenn slapped him across the face, Daryl felt some kind of relief. He deserved it. He deserved it so bad. Yet he knew he had just jeopardized Glenn’s trust to the point where it was no turning back.   
  
 “I really hate you.” Glenn was crying more now, and even though Daryl believed the words, at the same time, he did not.    
  
Because the way Glenn said it, made it sound like a cry for a change. Like he did not want to have to say those words.   
  
So Daryl took another chance. The only one he could think of. He placed his hands on either side of Glenn’s face, and kissed him.

  
Daryl pressed his tongue to the seam of Glenn’s lips and a gasp relieved him access to delve inside Glenn’s mouth.    
  
The kiss was slow and soft, comforting in ways that his words could never be. Daryl’s hand rested below Glenn’s ear, his thumb caressing his cheek. The moment should have lasted forever, if it hadn’t been for Glenn pulling back abruptly.   
  
Regret washed over Daryl like the long slow waves on a shallow beach. Each wave was icy cold and sent shivers down his spine.    
  
How he longed to go back and take a different path, but now that was impossible. There was no way back. He had just kissed a man who only moments before had been raped by another man. What had he been thinking?   
  
A sound came from outside the window, and Daryl would have reacted if it weren’t for the dread he felt waiting for Glenn’s response.   
  
As he scanned the Doctor’s face for a reaction, the silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. He expected him to back away, dissolve into more tears or maybe even lean in for seconds, but he did none of those things.   
  
Glenn’s hand cracked across Daryl’s face a second time without warning, snapping it back with the force of his blow and causing his head to reel sickeningly. Daryl however knew he deserved it again and welcomed the pain.   
  
 "Go."   
  
 “Glenn…” Daryl futilely tried.   
  
Glenn turned his head away to hide tears that had started to flow down his face again and pointed towards the door.   
  
 "Get out," he choked.    
  
Daryl could do nothing else at this point, but to do what he was told. He walked out the door and closed it behind him, he leaned against it and slid down to the floor.   
  
What had he really been thinking?   
  
He had wanted Glenn to trust him, that was his intentions from the start but, the kiss. The kiss could not have been for only that reason, could it?   
  
Daryl rubbed his hand over his face, letting the guilt grip onto him as he moved to sit beside the door, realizing he had basically trapped Glenn inside his room.    
  
He did not want to leave however, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to face Glenn ever again. This was his own punishment, to let his wall of pride crumble.   
  
When he opened his eyes he didn’t even realized he had closed, there was daylight shining in through the windows of the infirmary, the three patients were awake in their beds and Doctor Greene stood by one of them, assisting them.   
  
He had fallen asleep sitting there all night. When Daryl turned to Glenn’s door, he noticed it being open, and when he got on his feet to look inside, it was empty.   
  
 “He’s fetching peaches.” Doctor Greene’s voice reassured him as he walked up behind him. –“You must be hungry, how about some breakfast?”   
  
Daryl turned to the Doctor and was introduced to a tray of food in the older man’s hands. He carefully received it and nodded a thank you.   
  
 “I don’t know what you have done to deserve to sit on a cold, stony ground an entire night but I see regret in your eyes. Whatever it is you did, I am sure that with patience and understanding, you will be relieved of it.” Doctor Greene smiled at him and walked back to his patients.   
  
Daryl sat down on the floor and placed the tray in his lap. He ate the food with gratitude, pondering last night’s mistake. He had dreamt about Glenn and the kiss the entire night, not even knowing he had been asleep.    
  
It had all felt so real, the kiss he had rewind in his head, the touch of Glenn’s skin, him kissing back.   
  
Where had this wave come from? He could still feel the bit of anger towards Glenn he had felt since the first time they met, but it was different now. The anger was different.   
  
Daryl ate his breakfast, put the tray on the counter and left the infirmary. He wanted to go and find Glenn, but Hershel had been right. Patience, understanding – he needed to take it slow.    
  
Instead he walked up the path to the barracks, got dressed and ready to go out to shoot another episode. It all felt strange, to go on with life like nothing had happened. But then he remembered all the other times he had done that, and he cursed himself.   
  
A helicopter flew the crew out to a remote area where they did some action scenes and an interview. Daryl couldn’t focus and he could tell that the rest of the group noticed. Ones back at the base, Daryl went to look for Glenn. Not to speak to him, just to keep an eye on him; or something.   
  
As he passed the barracks, heading for the hill; Dwight turned the corner and stopped him in his tracks.   
  
 “Hey man, what’s up?”   
  
 “Hey, not much. Thought I’d go visit Jim’s grave.” Daryl muttered, tried passing the other man but ended up with a weight on his chest; Dwight’s hand.   
  
 “Really? You’re not going up there to get seconds?” Dwight smirked.   
  
Daryl’s blood froze in his veins. What did Dwight mean?   
  
 “The map states that Doctor Rhee is up there, so I am just assuming you did finish him last night and you’ve realized you haven’t had enough?”   
  
_ Asshole. _   
  
 “I won’t tell anyone Dwight.”   
  
 “I know you won’t. That would be your loss.” Dwight obviously threatened. –“But as long as we can get along and both have our fun, I don’t see a problem. You go and visit Jim’s grave.” Dwight winked and walked down to the barracks.   
  
Daryl decided not to go up the hill anymore. Instead he went to the cafeteria and joined Michonne, Nicholas and Andrea playing cards.   
  
 “Where’s Noah?” He asked Andrea as she dealt the deck for another round of Chicago.   
  
 “I don’t know. He’s busy with something he told me, said he needed some space between filming.”   
  
 “He told me it’s a project he’s doing.” Nicholas assured.   
  
Daryl nodded and picked up his hand of cards.   
  
 “Did you hear? Michonne and Shane were just asked to ‘pretend’ to be in a relationship to get a rise in salary.” Andrea scoffed.    
  
Michonne gave her a smirk and a shake of the head.   
  
 “No money in the world can make me want to pretend that.” The table laughed, Daryl too.    
  
Inside however, he felt that tingly feeling that something was off.   
  
-   
  
Daryl rested his head in his hands. For the fifth night in a row, he sat outside of Glenn’s room against the wall beside the door.    
  
He pondered the reason why he was actually there again, knowing fully well Glenn was not going to let him inside or talk to him. Yet, he did not care if he had to sit outside his room every single night for the rest of his time. He needed to ask about the account sending him riddles, he had to. But more, he needed to apologize again, for kissing him.   
  
The infirmary was dark and quiet like the other nights. The calm was nice, making Daryl cherish the time he was alone like this.    
  
In a place like Alexandria, there was not much silence or alone time, how much you even tried. He had already prepared himself of the silence so much that when the door beside him suddenly opened he almost could not believe it.   
  
Light escaped out to reveal Glenn’s slim shadow on the floor. It however dissolved when Glenn walked back inside his room but leaving the door open, the gesture however one Daryl took as an invitation.    
  
He quickly got on his feet and felt how the anxiousness grew as he walked inside. He closed the door behind him and turned to find Glenn with his back turned by his bed, pulling off his shirt.   
  
The scars covered his back like a hundred silvery pink snakes. It was a brutal reminder to Daryl that he had helped create some of them. When he had finished looking at Glenn’s back, he looked at the rest of him and felt himself warm up inside.   
  
When he really looked, Glenn was a living work of art. His slightly tanned skin was tempting to touch; every move giving away his strength. Daryl had seen this body, but not in this light. No, before it was an Asian slave waiting to be punished. Now, there was only beauty.   
  
 “You have to stop sitting outside my room every night.”   
  
Glenn’s words pulled Daryl back to reality.   
  
 “I need to speak to you.”   
  
 “So you decided to sleep by my door every night until I would let you?”   
  
 “Yes.” Daryl answered bluntly, which Glenn blinked in surprise at.   
  
 “Fine, you can speak to me; by answering this simple question: Why did you kiss me?” Glenn asked.   
  
 “Because I wanted to.” Daryl admitted.   
  
 “You wanted to? How did it suddenly change to that? Last time I checked, you couldn’t stand me.”   
  
 “I don’t know how, it just did.”   
  
 “You think that I am going to fall for that? I know guys like you, like Dwight. You do whatever it takes to get what you want. You want something from me, don’t you?” Glenn barked.   
  
 “I am not like Dwight.” Daryl contended, offended.     
  
 “You’re not? Because I see little difference. What do you want?”   
  
 “I want you to trust me. I need someone to trust me because I barely trust myself at this point.”   
  
 “And forcing yourself on me right after you threatened me was going to make me trust you?” Glenn fumed.   
  
Daryl had no answer to that question, instead he continued.   
  
 “I receive this email every day by the same sender, telling me that you know something. I don’t know what it is you are supposed to know that I should find out, but it’s driving me crazy. All of this is.”   
  
 “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Glenn denied and turned away.   
  
 “Jim’s suicide, you giving me the letter, not accepting extra money by KNIGHT, Jim telling me to trust you and now an anonymous sender telling the same thing. You are the one who's not fooling anyone. Tell me, please.” Daryl pleaded, desperate at this point.   
  
Glenn turned to look at him again, eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. He inhaled, held his breath for a few seconds and pulled his lower lip between his teeth.   
  
 “I can’t. If I tell you, you’d be in danger. They would kill you if you knew.”   
  
 “If I knew what Glenn?” Daryl took a step closer and was now in the Doctor’s personal space, he did not care however, for Glenn’s words; about how he worried for his safety made him want to leap.   
  
 “Why did you kiss me Daryl?” Glenn ignored the question and asked his own, eyes staring into the soldiers.   
  
 “Glenn…” Daryl sighed.   
  
 “ _ Why _ did you kiss me?” Glenn persisted.   
  
A moment of silence lingered. Daryl wanted to answer, but did he even know himself?   
  
 “Because…”   
  
At the end, he didn’t have to say it. It became clear to him then as he looked into Glenn’s chocolate brown eyes, and to Glenn too. So when the Asian man leaned in and catched his lips with his own, Daryl had his answer.   
  
Unable to contain himself anymore, Daryl’s hands went up to work their way around Glenn’s body, feeling each crevasse, each line along his perfect physique. Glenn leaned closer and it was beautiful how his body matched Daryl’s body form like two pieces of a puzzle.   
  
They pulled apart and opened their eyes. They stared at each other, deep into each other's eyes. No words were spoken but a story worthy of them were communicated.   
  
 “You have to tell me Glenn. You can trust me.”   
  
 “It’s too dangerous.”   
  
 “I don’t care. Jim died because of KNIGHT. I can’t just stand by watching.”   
  
 “Yes, just like you’ve done so far.” Glenn smirked but let it fall when he looked onto Daryl’s serious demeanor. –“Your plot armor might be thick, but I am serious. I can’t tell you. And no one can know about this.”   
  
 “About us you mean?”    
  
 “You could get hurt.”   
  
 “You mean like you?”   
  
 “I can take care of myself.”   
  
 “Dwight raped you.”   
  
 “He did, and has done since he got here. I am not a damsel in distress.”   
  
 “Glenn…”   
  
 “You should go before they notice your absence.” Glenn gave Daryl a slight push against his chest.    
  
It only made Daryl want to embrace the Doctor more.   
  
 “I will be back tomorrow night.” He whispered into Glenn’s ear and turned to leave, but Glenn stopped him and pulled him in for a peck on the lips one more time.    
  
Daryl could have let it go on for an eternity, because he was certain now; of everything involving his feelings for Glenn.   
  
No one of them noticed however, the person standing outside the window with a camera in their hands, recording everything. **  
**   


**Author's Note:**

> The reason behind the story is that with all racism, phobias and hostility is going on in the world right now, we should learn from each other, help each other and learn to accept what we don't understand. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think! Comment and kudos, I want it all.  
> Also, follow me on tumblr : http://fjugheadj.tumblr.com


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